Devil Tail
by Shocknawe 425
Summary: Nero had gone through a lot since Fortuna, but he never could have been ready for when he entered a world of magic and Wizards. Meeting some wizards and joining tne Fairy Tail Guild, can they handle the Demon Hunter? And will Nero find something truly unexpected? (Inspired by Ultimate10’s Ultimate Fairy). NeroXErza
1. Chapter 1 Not The Usual Job Part 1

_**Okay, first time ever making a Devil May Cry and Fairy Tail crossover. Not entirely familiar with Fairy Tail, but based on what I know, I'll try to make it somewhat presentable. Also, props towards Ultimate10 for inspiring me to write a similar story, but still original. After reading Ultimate Fairy by Ultimate10, which is likely the most popular Ben 10 Crossover Fanfic I have ever read, I felt inspired to write my own story with Fairy Tail.**_

 _ **So, cliche inspiration story, I read this guys story and want to follow in his footsteps...yeah.**_

 _ **Anyway, I will be making some minor, minor, minor changes to Nero, who will be the main protagonist and be paired with Erza. But if you have better suggestions, I'm all ears, just not sure if I'll follow through with some of those suggestions. Anyway, here's the small changes to Nero.**_

 _ **Nero will be slightly older, meaning he'll have more experience under his belt, a bit nicer, but will still have the same bad attitude in a fight and will be slightly arrogant. Not completely arrogant, but confident in his abilities that he know's he'll win.**_

 _ **Nero moveset changes:**_

 ** _1) Since it's confirmed that Nero is indeed the son of Vergil, I will allow Nero to use the Summon Swords in a similar fashion to Vergil, meaning Nero won't have to use his Devil Trigger to use them. However, the max I am willing to give him is six and he can only shoot them. None of the Beyblade or raining swords Vergil can use._**

 ** _2) His Devil Bringer Arm has the minor change that while he can absorb the essence of certain demons he's defeated and in the case of Fairy Tail magic, Nero can manifest small amounts of the abilities of the demons he's defeated. Like say when he defeated Bael, Ice Toad, he absorbed that glowing puppet. In the case of this story, he'll be able to generate bursts of ice, not as powerful as the demon itself since it's only a portion, but you get the idea._**

 ** _3) And lastly is Nero's Devil Trigger. Now it is said that Nero's Devil Trigger allows him to tap into the full power of the Devil Bringer Arm, so for this story, I wanna take it a step further and give him a second Devil Trigger, not until much, much later like the Tower of Heaven where the Team fights Jellal. If you look up Devil Trigger Nero Perfect, you might find some concept art of his Devil Form. I hope this doesn't make him powerful to the point of him being broken._**

 ** _In any case, I hope you all enjoy the story as I hope I will do my best to make it somewhat presentable, also I am getting help from Ultimate10 to make sure I don't just copy his work cause that would just be a dick move. Part of the first chapter can be considered mirror to his work, but just that particular moment. From that point on, my own words. So credit goes to Ultimate10 for inspiring me to write my own story. I would like to thank him for giving me the okay to make a story similar to his._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing, not a thing, I have been seeing a therapist and she's been helping me._**

* * *

 _ **Devil Tail**_

 ** _Chapter 1: Not The Usual Job Part 1_**

 ** _Devil May Cry, Main Branch_**

When a person becomes a Demon Hunter, they really shouldn't expect it to be calm or really peaceful. Instead, they should expect the following things: danger, adventure, excitement, and loss. Some might find it to intoxicating, others enjoy, but for twenty-year-old, Nero Sparda, he wasn't experiencing any of that. In fact, the last time he had a good fight was about four months ago when a bunch of rogue Assaults went on a rampage in Orlando Florida. As of right now, the most dangerous thing to him was the strawberry sundae his Uncle, Dante Sparda got him hooked on, that would give him a headache known commonly as a brain freeze.

Current events in his new home state were going by relatively well and pretty much across the entire planet, save for Fortuna which still had some issues but had quiet down in the last few months. His uncle, Dante was currently doing a job in California, with the use of several Devil Arms, physical manifestations of Demon souls the veteran Demon Hunter had defeated. Those along with his sword, Rebellion, that he had been gifted by his father, Sparda, Dante was nearly unstoppable.

Powerful weapons, the skill to match, and the fact that he was half demon and the son of the greatest swordsman to ever emerge from the Demon World allowed Dante to handle threats that would require multiple human Demon hunters and sometimes his partner Trish and off time friend Lady. Speaking of the two women, Trish was just finishing up her own job in Ottawa Canada, something about some Frosts attacking Parliament Hill officials. As for Lady, neither Trish, Dante, or Nero have heard much from her since the Fortuna incident.

At first, Nero wasn't exactly enjoying the huge dry spell of jobs, Dante and Trish taking the jobs since he was otherwise engaged with his own affairs. But the grandson of Sparda was mature enough and smart enough to know this was going to change sooner or later, but that didn't mean the peace wasn't appreciated. However, the young demon hunter just really wished for something to do, anything, the fights he got with demons were something he actually enjoyed. While he loved a good fight, he took up his sword, Red Queen for a reason, to protect what is most important and to protect humanity from fates that could be worse than death.

After the Fortuna battle, the Order of the Sword being disbanded, Sanctus, Credo, the Hell Gates, and the Savior, Dante had given his brother's sword, Yamato to Nero as a gift, seeing that the kid had earned it when he tried to return it to him. The powerful sword was the very same blade that Sparda had used to seal away the Demon World from the Human World. It was a beautiful steel masterpiece, the handle had white fabric wrap, a gold guard with engravings of a dragon etched into it. Despite the power the sword possessed, Nero, preferred to use his own sword, the Red Queen. It was an ornate weapon, taking inspiration from the German Großes Messer (which translates to "Big Knife"). It had a larger handle, a motorcycle like a handguard that actually had a throttle to allow Nero to use the Exceed System made into the sword.

The Exceed system was a come practice within the Order of the Sword, most Holy Knights having a small engine made into the blade of the sword, using a flammable liquid to fuel it and allow the user to swing harder and actually cause more damage. But if there was one thing that distinguished Nero from the other Holy Knights, when he was still part of the Order, was his trusty custom revolver, a heavily modified Smith and Wesson Model 500 double-action revolver. It had a six-shot cylinder, with a long dual-barrel that allowed two shots to be fired at the same time, with porting on each barrel to reduce the recoil and muzzle flip, as well as targeting sights. There was an ornate wooden handle, as well as a blue rose design engraved on the right side, with a thorn design embedded as well. Due to using his left hand over his right, the Revolver's breach opened up to the right rather than the left. But it wasn't just the weapons that made this demon hunter unique.

In the year that followed Fortuna, Nero had gained a lot more power when he used Devil Bringer. Nero was one-quarter demon and three-quarters human, and that demonic heritage manifested itself into his right arm. In the place of a regular human arm was, instead, an arm that was entirely disfigured, and was demonic to the point of being nearly draconic. His claws, palm, and forehand had glowing blue skin, with a large blue crack in the middle of his forearm. The rest of his arm was covered in red organic flesh, with a spike protruding from his elbow. Blue strap-like flesh covered the top part of his arm. The Devil Bringer had the unique ability to draw portions of a demons power into itself, giving Nero more power, however, this caused it to glow brighter with each essence the arm took. Due to this, whenever Nero went out, he wore a medical cast to avoid drawing attention.

At the moment, however, the young adult was lounging in the Devil May Cry office, just waiting for something, anything to happen. His feet were kicked up onto Dante's desk as he ate his strawberry sundae.

"Guess sooner or later, the demons would wise up and leave the human world alone," muttered Nero to himself as he poked the ice cream dessert, "but come on... I would seriously take a Dagon right about now. Or a Scarecrow."

Setting his snack down, he switched on the tv, flicking through news channels for anything demon related. After going through the channels twice, he found that nothing was happening in the world, well, nothing that interested him as the only thing happening was a corrupt president getting impeached in some random country for corruption and obstructing justice.

"Just my luck, nothing but some corrupt politicians," drawled Nero as he switched off the tv, "but from what I've heard, the guy might be a demon in disguise."

"But knowing my luck, and the luck of any poor bastard that has come into contact with Dante, that'll all change," mused the silver-haired young adult cynically as he finished off his sundae. He would never admit it, but he actually liked the frozen dessert.

However, as soon as Nero placed the dish down on the desk, the phone began ringing. Looking over at the offending source of the noise, the quarter demon kicked his boot down on the furniture, causing the phone to fly off its holder and sail through the air. Stretch out his left hand, he caught the phone before bringing it to his ear.

"Devil May Cry," Greeted Nero professionally, expecting the person on the other end to be a client.

 _"Kid, it's Morrison,"_ responded the voice. Nero narrowed his eyes in annoyance. He really didn't appreciate being called a child, but Morrison was an old friend of Dante. Usually coming to the Demon Hunter with job offers. With the potential offer for something to do, the young hunter let it slide.

"This ain't a social call is it?" Asked Nero, getting right down to business.

 _"You'd be right,"_ snorted Morrison in wry amusement, however, his tone went back to seriousness, _"is Dante around? I've got a job."_

"The old man's still on one in Cali'," answered the youngest Sparda, "Trish is still busy and I don't have a clue about Lady. I'm not doing anything important right now."

 _"You sure you're up to it?"_ Asked the man, his tone had the tiniest bits of concern.

"Been bored out of my mind, figured you had something for me; something ugly that needs to get put down," Replied Nero coolly as he adjusted his position in the office chair.

 _"Right,"_ conceded Morrison's as he gave in, _"I got a lead about an old Order warehouse, one that the Order's former mad scientist, Agnus, used to House old demon artifacts and some Angelo armor. Demons have been flocking around the area and my sources say that it won't be long before one of them ends up drawing blood."_

"Guess a stuttering, mad scientist's work is never completely gone, huh?" Joked Nero, knowing that Agnus was a stuttering wreck but a stuttering wreck who was also a genius Alchemist who creates the Ascendant Ceremony, and several artificial demons like the Angelos, Cutlasses, Basilisks, and Gladii. It was also this alchemist that helped create the Savior, and most of the swords Holy Knights used, including Nero's own sword.

 _"Quite right, kid,"_ agreed Morrison.

"What kind of demons have been skulking around and where do I put them down?" Asked Nero briskly, getting a little more annoyed about the whole 'Kid' thing.

 _"Some Scarecrows at most,"_ he answered, _"The warehouse is in Jersey, about half an hour from where the shop is. I'll pay you there when the job's done."_

"And how much will I get?" cut in the young adult, "You know the bossman doesn't do _everything_ out of the kindness of his heart?"

 _"If you get the job done without breaking anything in the warehouse, you'll get about five grand, an extra grand if you get it done before midnight,"_ challenged the businessman, knowing full well that Nero could get pretty competitive.

"Right," said the demon hunter, "make sure to give Trish and the old man a holler that I'm going on a job."

 _"Good luck, kid,"_ concluded Morrison.

"And stop calling me-" snapped Nero, however, was cut off when the man on the other end of the call suddenly hung up.

Glaring at the phone for a moment, he hung it up before standing up from the chair. Guess he finally had something to do. Heading towards one of the walls of Devil May Cry, Red Queen was mounted on the wall for quick use. Nero always carried Blue Rose with him, hidden inside his jacket pocket.

Taking the nearly four-foot sword, he sheathed it across his back. He was about to exit the shop but stopped and quickly went back to the desk and searched a few draws. After looking two, Nero opened a third and found what he was looking for: a medical cast, glove, and a roll of medical tape. Having your demonic heritage manifest in you right arm makes it hard going out. Dipping his hand back into the draw, he took out a set of car keys and dumped them into his pocket.

Once he was all set, the Devil Hunter put on his glove, covering Devil Bringer before wrapping the medical tape around it. Once it was fully covered, Nero strapped the sling across his left shoulder and put the final touches to make his arm look like it was in a cast.

With all said and done, Nero made his way, but stopped short and glanced back at a picture that had been placed on the desk. Looking at it for a moment, he sighed before pushing the main doors open and exited Devil May Cry.

In the frame was a photo, taken about two years ago. It was a photograph of the entire group in front of Devil May Cry. Dante, with his hands in his pockets with a calm smile on his face, was in the middle, with Trish on his left, and Lady on his right; both of them were smiling. Next to Lady was Patty Lowell, a young girl about 10 to 13 years old. She had blue eyes and long, wavy, blonde hair that reaches to about the midsection of her back, she was wearing a small dress, colored pink. Patty was a friend of Dante's whom he protected for while, being the daughter of a powerful sorcerer and Alchemist. A bright smile on her face, next to her was her mother, Nina Lowell, she looked to be an older, more mature version of Patty, with emerald eyes rather than blue. Morrison was to their right, his eyes closed and a small smile on his old features. The man wore a white dress shirt underneath a purple vest and black slacks. His hair was light brown and combed backward, with his sideburns beginning to gray. A light brown mustache was right above his lips.

On Trish's left was Nero, with his right arm in a cast and sling. His eyes had an expression of indifference, with a small frown added to it. On his left, however, was a young woman with long orange hair, fair skin, and bronze irises. She wore a white dress, with beige accented wrist cuffs, and gold accents sown around her sleeves, and the edges of her dress. Around the gold accents on the sleeves are the symbols same symbols that are on Nero's shoulder, only in gold. Around her neck was a necklace, depicting four angel wings, with two surrounding a red crystal.

Her hands grasped Nero's left hand, while her head leaned on his shoulder; she was smiling.

* * *

 _ **Jersey City, New Jersey**_

Most New Yorkers have a very strong dislike of New Jersey, viewing as more of a suburb than an actual state as most of its accomplishments are a result of events that normally happen in New York. So not being from New York originally, Nero was exempt from that stereotype. But he would admit, he preferred the city that never sleeps over Jersey City. However, the demon hunter wasn't there to compare the two cities, he had a job to do.

Heading towards the historic Warehouse District of lower Jersey City, a white and blue fan with red trimming rolled down the night time streets. On the side of the van was a blue neon sign that said 'Devil May Cry'. For a while, Nero had his own branch of Devil May Cry in Fortuna, however, he decided to join up with Dante and Trish at the main building in New York. He kept the van as a token of his own business if it only was a branch to his uncle's.

The trip up to Jersey City was uneventful, a little traffic but wasn't exactly a hindrance to the young man as he made it to the old district a little before eleven at night. However, every once and a while, Nero felt Devil Bringer pulse ever so slightly, almost warning him that demons are close by. Guess Morisson wasn't kidding when he said that demons had begun to flock here.

However, it wouldn't really matter too soon as his destination came right up in front of him.

"Guess this is the place," commented the silver-haired hunter as he stopped the van just in front of an old warehouse.

The Warehouse was built in the same fashion as many others in the old district of Jersey City. All of them were once used at some point, especially during Progressive Era when the railroad distribution center once dominated the city's Hudson River Shoreline. However, that was many years ago an now, most warehouses were left alone to act as a historic sight. Keyword, 'most'.

Stepping out of the van, Nero had Red Queen strapped to his back and Blue Rose holstered on his left side. He knew the demons were close by, Devil Bringer pulsed as a tiny glow managed to pierce through the wrapping of his medical cast, glove, and sling.

"Better get started and get that bonus," snorted Nero as he headed right towards the warehouse.

That was when the all too familiar of demonic cackling filled his ears, not just six feet behind him.

Acting on instinct, Nero lept forward, narrowly dodging a giant blade that was swung at him. Thanks to his trajectory, Nero smashed through the window into the Warehouse. Shards of glass were of little issue to the demon hunter.

Rolling to his feet, Nero was back up in time to see a Scarecrow squeezing its way through the window in pursuit of him. Scarecrows were basically burlap sacks filled with Trypoxylus, unintelligent beetles that originates from the Demon World. Working together, they can animate the scarecrow-like form they use.

The burlap sack formed a Scarecrow's body, which was haphazardly stitched together with multiple other rags. It stood on two wooden pikes, similar to a pirate's peg leg. One arm was made of wood while the other was a massive executioner's blade. Its face had two hollow eyes and a mouth that was stitched shut.

"Was wondering when one of you dirtbags would show up," mocked Nero as he knew that he was more than likely overqualified to handle a single Scarecrow.

The demon said nothing as it made its way towards him, wobbling with each step, dragging the massive sword with it.

"Gotta admit though," continued Nero as he reached up with his left hand to take the handle of Red Queen, "You surprised me; you guys are never this quiet."

The Scarecrow lunged at Nero, but the hunter saw it coming a mile away. In a flash, Red Queen was out, the blade sliced right down into the chest of the demon, but the punishment had just begun. Raising his sword up, Nero brought it back down in a left diagonal slash then swung horizontally at the Scarecrow's neck then brought it down vertically, ripping the chest completely open.

The demon's body began to swell like air was being pumped into it. It continued to swell, blackish liquid sprayed out through the seams before the demon's body burst like a balloon. A spray of crimson turned into crystals the second it came into contact with the air.

One down, many more to go.

"That's kinda a letdown," scoffed Nero as he sheathed Red Queen back on his back. Turning into the warehouse, he went further in, the darkness surrounding him, but it didn't really bother him as he had much better vision than humans.

The further he went in, the more Devil Bringer pulsed. He was getting closer to more demons. After about a minute of walking, Nero came to a larger area. Looking around, he spotted a light switched situated on the wall. Stepping towards it, he flipped the switch.

Nothing happened in the first few seconds, then, like an old generator that hadn't been started in years rumbled to life. Overhead lights flickered for a second before snapping on, illuminating the room. Blinking his eyes, Nero allowed them to adjust as he scanned the room.

It was the main storage area. Numerous crates were stacked upon each other, as well as some barrels. A smell of dust and mold filled Nero's nose as he scoffed, Agnus had way too much time on his hands.

His moment of levity was cut off when he heard the demonic cackling again. This time, though, it was all around him. On the ground, he noticed multiple burlap sacks that were scattered throughout the area. Then, black beetles skittered out of nearby crevices, around crates, and from a few barrels. More Trypoxylus. Scarecrows came to life, among them were slightly different Scarecrows, ones that had doctor's mask sewn to its face, and the blade that was normally a part of their arm was now replacing its right leg.

"Great," scoffed Nero in annoyance, "the welcome wagon."

The demons said nothing, as they slowly surrounded him.

"Your buddy learned the hard way that jumping me is a bad idea," he cautioned, a smile creeping across his face the entire time, "But since you're all here, why don't I give you all the same lesson."

The Scarecrows inched forward, practically surrounding him. The smile never left his face as he looked at every demon surrounding him.

"Okay then; who wants to start us off?"

A maniacal cackle sounded above him. Nero looked up and saw that a Scarecrow had lept from a catwalk and was falling right towards him.

"Guess I'll start us off," the young devil hunter said before taking a deep breath.

As the Scarecrow was about to maul him from mid-air, Nero swiftly did a back-flip and kicked the demon into the crowd. The act pushed several of them back into the air due to the hard impact of the kick.

One of the demons recovered, only to receive the other end of Nero's left boot. The blow sent it crashing towards another group of demons, which sent more flying into the air. A Leg Scarecrow spun towards the devil hunter with its leg outstretched, but Nero ducked under it and tripped its leg from underneath. He then did a spinning kick that sent it flying into another crowd of demons. A few crashed into the wooden crates, but the material held thankfully. He could really use that bonus.

An Arm Scarecrow lunged for him, but he quickly backed away from the demon. It lunged for him again, but this time he caught the blunt side of the blade with his hand. Using the momentum of the downward swing, Nero lifted the demon into the air and slammed it onto the ground. Before it could react, he planted his foot onto the Scarecrow's head, instantly killing it, and yanked the blade out.

Looking at the curved blade, he lunged his arm backward, before throwing the guillotine at the crowd. The blade spun around the demons, instantly slicing them. Due to the blade's curve, however, the weapon flew around Nero like a boomerang. Scarecrows screeched in pain as the guillotine tore through the burlap sacks, which caused red ooze to shoot out.

The blade then flew back to Nero, who ducked, and looked over his shoulder to see the blade impale itself into a Leg Scarecrow.

Standing up from his crouch, Nero noticed that there were now fewer Scarecrows than when he started. He figured that it was time to use his blade to cut them down to size.

He reached over his left shoulder, and grabbed the handle of Red Queen and brought its tip down to the concrete. With the blade held down, he twisted the handle of his blade, which activated the Exceed System in the sword that shot out flammable propellant from the exhaust.

Nero narrowed his eyes, "Your move."

Three Scarecrows quickly lunged towards him. The former knight then ran forward, while holding his burning sword with his left hand over his right shoulder.

Before any of the demons could strike him, he swiftly cut through them as he charged past. The force of his slash caused him to continue spinning, which allowed him to cut more demons in half. The propellant of his sword covered the blade in flames, which allowed it to cut through the Scarecrows in an arc of searing flames. The demons' remains fell to the ground, scorched by the might of his EX Streak technique.

When he finished, only three more Scarecrows were left: two Arm Scarecrows and one Leg Scarecrow. The two Arm Scarecrows moved towards the devil hunter, with the one on his right bringing its blade down. Nero deflected it with his own blade, and then struck the Scarecrow horizontally on its unguarded right side, before cutting through it again to slice through the unguarded left side of the other Arm Scarecrow.

Nero managed to look up and saw that the last Leg Scarecrow was in the air, and bringing its blade down towards him. The hunter twisted his hand around the Red Queen's handle to grip it in reverse. With a mighty heave, he struck the demon with a vertical swing that launched it into the air; he followed with a leap. In mid-air, he hacked at it from left and right, with each swipe tearing away the burlap sacks that comprised the demon. After he landed four successful strikes, he arched his Großes Messer backward and swung downwards with a loud cry. The force of the blade eviscerated the demon in two while sending the demon hunter down to the ground. He landed on his feet, while the Scarecrow's slimy innards spilled into the ground a few feet away.

Nero stood up, and visibly relaxed as the demon's remains dissolved. He sighed, as he rolled his neck.

However, he visibly frowned when a sound came to his ears: the sound of something skidding along the concrete.

Spinning around, Nero spotted three giant rolling blades heading right towards him, coming out from around the corners of a few crates. With not much time to react to the incoming threats, he swatted one of the blades to the right with his own, and then swatted the other to the left. Unfortunately, the last rolling blade was upon him, and he had no time to deflect it. Gritting his teeth, he twisted to the side but timed it wrong. Knowing that he had no other options, he raised his cast in front of him to brace for the pain. He felt the blades rip through his forearm before he landed on the ground. When he felt the ground on his back, the former knight rolled back onto his feet.

As he skidded backward, Nero glanced at his new adversaries as they immediately stopped rolling, and landed on their stomachs. The demons then got to their feet and faced him. Their skin comprised of leather sacks, which were stitched throughout their body, as well as zipped together with zippers. Their faces were made of leather, with two empty eye sockets, and a long trunk that was covered with brown leather, and a gold ring at the end. Their feet were actually two knives that impaled themselves into the ground to support each demon's balance. Both of their arms had three large blades, as well as a large singular one in the back. He stood up, warily keeping his eyes on the new demons: the Mega Scarecrows.

The stinging in his right arm quickly disappeared, and he examined it. To Nero's annoyance, he saw that the sling, the cast beneath it, and the lace that held it together was ripped. Other than the obvious tears, the clue that gave him the conclusion that the cast was now useless was the blue light that was coming from underneath it.

"Okaaay," he mused in annoyance, as he impaled the tip of the Red Queen to the ground. "Looks like we're at a draw. I got your goons, and you landed a hit on me."

The demons approached slowly, only growling in response to his statement. Meanwhile, the demon hunter yanked his right arm to the side, which ripped the lace that held his sling. He then proceeded to pull the sling out of his forearm, before throwing it to the side. As the sling landed softly on the ground, Nero reached for the red finger-less glove on his right hand and took it off with his left.

The young man sighed as he shoved the glove into the left pocket of his pants. "So how's this, then? This time, we do sudden death rules. Winner takes all."

The three Mega Scarecrows screeched at him in response.

Nero then grabbed the hilt of his Durandal with his left hand, while slowly clenching his right fist.

"And all bets are off," he snarled, as a blue light began to shine underneath his cast.

The Mega Scarecrow in the middle did not wait any longer and lunged towards the devil hunter. Reacting to the demon's charge, Nero rushed forward while yanking the Red Queen from the ground. Dragging the sword behind him, the former knight brought his right arm forward. Both demon and warrior were within inches from each other.

And before they could touch each other, Nero's cast burst into a hue of blue light.

When it subsided, the Mega Scarecrow was struggling to escape the grasp of a spectral arm. The entire forearm was a phantasm blue, while most of the hand was covered with red flesh, but the clawed fingers were as blue as the entirety of the arm.

With a snarl, Nero slammed the Mega Scarecrow into the ground with the phantom arm, the Spectral Bringer. Then, with a furious cry, he ran forward and kicked the demon hard in the face. He then leaped into the air, and lunged his Bringer forward, which in turn whipped the Spectral Bringer forward to perform his Snatch technique. The Bringer Snatched the demon and brought it upwards to him. He grabbed it and spun in mid-air. After making one spin, he then tossed the demon downwards towards one of the other demons, where it exploded in slimy green bits.

When he landed, Nero noticed that the blade that was on the previously alive Mega Scarecrow had shot into the air due to the force of its destruction. Thinking quickly, he gripped his sword like a baseball bat and waited for the blade to come closer to the ground. When it was within blade's reach, he struck the blade right in the middle, which sent it flying towards the demons. One of the demons had also charged forward but was right in the middle of the flying blade's path. The large guillotine impaled itself into the chest of the demon, which stopped its charge.

The other demon had run towards the demon hybrid while spinning the blades in its arms. They spun wildly and were seen as a silver circular blur. The Mega Scarecrow then literally threw its arms towards the attacking hunter. Nero prepared himself as the sharp boomerangs came to him. He dove between the two boomerangs and quickly got to his feet. He raised the Red Queen to attack as the blades returned to the Mega Scarecrow's shoulders.

The demon swung at him with its right blade, but he parried it with his own. Nero then ducked underneath the left blade that went over his head. Using demonic energy, the part-demon slid backward with both hands on his Red Queen. Using his Devil Bringer, he channeled blue demonic aura to envelop the entirety of the blade. He charged forward and slashed the Mega Scarecrow with a rising slash, thus finishing his Shuffle technique.

The demon fell backward on its back, with a large gash on its chest, and blue demonic aura burning its burlap skin. However, Nero was not going to give it the chance to recover and leaped upwards. Bringing the tip of his sword downwards, he let out a battle cry, as he impaled his Red Queen into the chest of the Mega Scarecrow. The demon let out a screech of pain, but it was not over yet. Nero then twisted the handle of his blade and revved it. Flaming propellant injected itself into the beast, and the Mega Scarecrow howled as its innards burned to ashes.

Suddenly, the Scarecrow then shot along the field, with Nero riding on top of it. He grinned ferociously as they approached a nearby wall to the street. When they were a few feet away from the wall, he pulled the sword out of the demon's chest and jumped backward. The Mega Scarecrow continued forward until it smashed against the wall. When it made contact, however, it instead exploded in a surge of flames.

Nero did a back-flip, before landing on his feet. He stood up and placed his sword over his shoulder as he examined the fruits of his labor. The flames covered a large hole that led out of the complex, with smoke rising out of the sky There were not enough flames to block his path, so he finally decided to sheath the Red Queen, leave the premises, and head for the next objective.

However, Nero made sure to charge up the energy in his arm. The Devil Bringer began to glow blue. After a few seconds, the glow became purple. A few more seconds after that, it became red.

When it did, the last Mega Scarecrow lunged for him in mid-air. The large blade from the first Mega Scarecrow was still embedded in its chest, but its blind fury caused it to simply ignore the pain. Knowing that the demon was upon him, Nero did a one-hundred-eighty-degree spin and whipped out his Blue Rose. He channeled all the demonic energy in his right arm into the dual-barrel revolver. And finally, he fired it at the demon.

Two bullets enveloped in demonic aura flew into the Mega Scarecrow's chest. As soon as they made contact, the demon's chest burst into pieces. The charred remains of the monster flew backward into the ground, as burnt beetles and green slime covered the floor. The large blade in its back spun in the air, before impaling itself into the floor.

Nero kept his eyes narrowed at the remains of the demons, waiting for anything else to happen. He gripped his gun tightly, before relaxing. The devil hunter then twirled the gun in his hand skillfully, before finally holstering it.

"And that, folks, is how you bring down the house," he said to no one in particular.

Thankfully he didn't actually bring down the House. Actually, very little damage had been done to the crates and numerous other objects that littered the area. In fact, the only thing that was somewhat damaged was a crate that had the blade of a Scarecrow embedded in it.

With all said and done, all Nero needed to do was wait for Morrison to show up. To pass some time by Nero put on his headset and started listening to music. He figured it might be some before Morrison shows so he could wait. And speaking of the man.

"Glad to see you didn't destroy anything," said a familiar voice.

Turning around, Nero spotted the man who hired him to take care of the demons that were previously lurking about.

"I do have self-control," quipped Nero as he stepped towards Morrison and took off the headset, however, was met with a blank look from the old man, "more self-control then before."

"Clearly," Replied Morrison as he walked around to inspect the area for any damages.

"Any idea on what's gonna happen to this place?" Asked Nero as he folded his arms, "and what was so important here?"

"The plan was to secure the warehouse so that it can be safely destroyed, along with whatever artifacts that could be here. My contact said that some of the artifacts are unstable, which is why I had you refrain from breaking it."

"Also the warehouse is funded by the city and destroying it would be like breaking a landmark," drawled Nero as he figured that there would be a big bill if an old warehouse was demolished with no reason.

"That too," conceded the elderly man as he approached the Scarecrow blade that was still lodged in the side of the crate, "would you mind?"

Shrugging, Nero made his over and grabbed the giant blade by the handle with Devil Bringer. As he did so, a sudden giant of electricity shot through his appendage, prompting him to yank it out as hard as he could with a sudden bark of surprise. As a result of pulling it out so fast, the wooden side was ripped open.

"Nero," said Morrison as he checked on Nero, being caught by surprise when the young hunter let out a cry, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he groaned, dropping the Scarecrow's blade and locked his attention on what was in the crate, "but what the heck is that?"

Following his gaze, Morrison saw what had the hunter's attention. Inside the crate was a large grey disk, about seven feet in diameter, with multiple carvings made into it. The carvings resembled rings and multiple symbols. However, what Nero and Morrison were focusing on was the large crack in the side of the disk, a crack that had light blue sparks of energy coming from it.

"What did you do?" Asked Morrison, looking at Nero.

"If I knew, I would tell you," Snapped the hunter, however, if things looked bad, they were about to get worse as blue energy shot out from random points on the disk.

Acting on instinct Nero threw the older man aside, but couldn't get out of the way of a ray of energy that collided with his chest. Pain swept across his body as energy rippled over him. An agonized cry escaped Nero as he was lifted into the air.

"NERO!" shouted Morrison as he tried to run over to assist, however, a pulse of energy knocked him back.

A light began growing in the center of the disk, growing brighter and brighter, Nero's cry of pain echoing throughout the warehouse. Suddenly, an intense white light engulfed the warehouse, blinding Morrison as he looked away. Fractures erupted across the disk before a roar of thunder rattled the area.

After a moment of shining brightly, the white light disappeared in an instant, prompting Morrison to look at where he had last seen Nero. When he did, he was met with a sight that made his heart nearly stop: Nero was gone and the disk vanished.

"No...," gasped the old man as he looked on in terror, "Kid..."

* * *

 _ **Elsewhere**_

Nero groaned as he felt pain lacing across his entire body. His eyebrow's furrowing as he felt the hard ground on his back. Slowly, but surely, the hunter's eyes opened, mentally cursing the pain in his ass. He just had to tempt fate with a wish.

"Damn it...," seethed Nero as he sat up, his left hand going to his head, "Should've figured the demon artifact would go off."

Rubbing his eyes, Nero's eyes finally unblurred, letting him see his surroundings. Upon seeing them, the hunter nearly did a doubletake about where he was. Where he should've been was the inside of a warehouse in Jersey, but instead what he saw was that he was in a lush, green forest.

"What...the...hell...?"

Nero looked around, trying to make out what happened. Or better yet, where he was.

"Where the hell am I?" growled Nero, his short temper getting close to snapping, "As far as I know, Morrison isn't the kind of person to just dump people in the middle of the woods."

Standing up, using his right hand to support himself as he stood, the demon hunter dusted his coat off, checked to see if Blue Rose had fallen out, which it hadn't, and reassessed his situation. For all the good it did him, he was still as dumbfounded as earlier. Granted he had seen some things as a demon hunter so he really shouldn't be so surprised.

But that's when the memories returned. The job given to him by Morrison, about some old demon artifacts. If he remembered correctly, back when he was still in the Order, Nero could just remember what he was taught about some artifacts. How some demon artifacts could allow transport across the world, and in some cases, other worlds entirely.

With the thought of possibly being in the demon world, Nero's eyes widened in realization, "No...no...NO!" roared the hunter as punched the ground with his right hand, making a small crater, "AM I SERIOUSLY IN ANOTHER..."

However, before he could get any angrier, he noticed something not too far from where he was. Lying on the ground was that same disk, the one that had struck him with energy. However, he needed to be sure. Taking out his phone, a gift given to him by Trish and tried to call someone, anyone, he would even take Dante.

Nothing. No reception. It was clear what had happened.

The disk and the phone were all Nero needed to know what had just happened and where he most likely wasn't. He might not know where he was, but he could guess that his suspicions were true. And there was only one thing Nero could blame at the immediate time.

Stalking towards the disc, the hunter had an enraged scowl on his face.

"Are you serious?! Are?! You?! SERIOUS?!" Bellowed Nero in fury.

Without a moment to hesitate, Nero stopped right in front of the disc. He needed to figure out how this thing worked. If it brought him here, it could take him back. He just needed to backtrack his memories and figure out what caused the thing to ring him here.

Thinking back, he remembered that electric feeling he got when he touched the Scarecrow's blade. That feeling. Thinking about it, the process felt more like some energy was taken rather than just electricity.

"If power is what turns you on," began Nero as he channeled some power into Devil Bringer, causing the appendage to glow a brighter blue, and form a small orb in his hand. With no other options available, he knelt down to the disc and placed his hand on the center, "then maybe power is what takes me-" however Nero was cut off when a massive backlash of energy blasted him back. Another flash of light temporarily blinded him, however, unlike last time, the electric sensation was no longer present.

Groaning as he sat up, the hunter mentally kicked himself for thinking it was that easy. However, if he thought his luck was bad, it got a whole lot worse.

Looking towards where the disc had previously been, Nero's eyes widened when he saw that the demon artifact had shattered in thousands of pieces. For a solid minute, Nero's face contorted into an expression of disbelief as he stammered incoherently. That was until all shock was replaced with fury which resulted in "ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!"

Nero stood up and began to pace back and forth. Every once and a while, he

looked up through the trees of the forest that he was now stuck in, still trying to process what just happened, or better yet, how was he going to eat home.

"I just had to ask for something to happen," Nero berated himself as he continued to pace, "couldn't just enjoy doing nothing; now I'm stuck here."

After a moment, he stopped to rub his eyes, "Now what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"I can tell yah what you can do," sneered a raspy voice from behind Nero. The hunter first noticed the shadow that appeared above his. Looking back, the hunter saw exactly what was looming over him.

Nero's first thought that what he was looking at was a demon, however, Devil Bringer didn't pulse like it normally would if it was. The creature was a massive beast, having traits similar to that of a gorilla, except it had a lavender chest and face, with a similarly lavender cone sticking out from the top of its head, and noticeably long ears and chin to match. It had green fur all over its body, save for its legs and tail, which were a darker shade of green, and the pink, heart-shaped symbols on its shoulders and arms in a line-like pattern.

"You can get off mah turf before I cave your albino face in," threatened the gorilla.

Now, it didn't take much for Nero to come to the conclusion that a good way to make the best of a bad situation is to deal with it with a clear head. And considering the rate of how things have been going, he needed an outlet for his anger. And seeing how this thing looked like it wanted a fight, he had no problems with it.

"Huh; first impressions, I'm surprised you can talk," commented Nero as he turned to face the beast, "but guess this confirms that I'm not in my universe anymore."

"What'd you say, yah little punk?" the ape-like being growled, not taking the insult well at all.

Giving the beast a once over, and if he didn't have Devil Bringer, he would immediately assume this thing was a demon. Demons can come in all shapes and sizes, case in point Bael, Berial, and a few others.

"I'm not one to beat up animals, so how about I give you a warning and tell you to back off before you get hurt," suggested the hunter, knowing that the gorilla would more than likely go for the fight rather than the option to leave.

"That right?" Scoffed the gorilla as it leaned down and got right on Nero's face, the overconfidence the gorilla-beast was palpable, "What if I don't leave? What're yah gonna do about?"

"Here's a hint!" Yelled Nero as he pulled Devil Bringer back, clenching the demonic appendage into a fist. The entire arm began glowing.

With enough power channeled into his hand, Nero leaped right towards the gorilla-beasts face and threw a brutal uppercut directly into its chin. The impact knocked the beast clean off its feet and fell back about ten feet while Nero effortlessly landed on his feet. The gorilla's giant, lavender hand went right towards his jaw, grasping it in pain.

"Argh!" Snarled the beast as it locked its vision on Nero, glaring in fury, "You little brat!"

"What? No chitchat or monologue? Just getting right to the point," taunted Nero as he whipped out Blue Rose and took aim at the gorilla.

The gorilla jumped to its feet and charge right towards the demon hunter, fist cocked back to smash the little man. Swinging forward, it sent a powerful punch right towards Nero, but the hunter saw it coming a mile away. At the last second, the white-haired hunter jumped up into the air, narrowly avoiding the fist as it collided with the ground. Landing on the arm of the gorilla, he ran up the limb, right up to the shoulder. When he was about a foot away, he whipped Blue Rose directly at the center of the beast's forehead and fired.

Two powerful magnum rounds erupted from both barrels of Nero's handgun. The bullets collided with the beasts head, however, instead of the usual spray of demonic blood that would follow being shot in the head, both rounds crumpled in on themselves. However, the gorilla reeled back in pain as a massive headache engulfed his forehead.

Ever since Nero joined Dante, he agreed to follow one simple rule the veteran demon hunter had, never kill a human or kill an animal unless absolutely necessary. That being said, the bullets Nero now used were made from a special material Dante and Trish used. To put it simply, if you're a human or animal, it won't kill you, but it'll hurt like a bitch. If you're a demon, well, you're dead.

And the gorilla learned that the hard way as its hand went back to its head, holding its face, "OW!"

Nero had jumped from the arm just as he fired Blue Rose, and seeing that the beast was still alive just solidified his speculation that this thing wasn't a demon.

"Well, that's interesting," commented Nero as he rested Blue Rose on his shoulder, "you're not a demon. Doesn't make you any less dumb than one."

"I'll crush you little runt!" Roared the gorilla as it fumed in rage.

"Actually, you'll be doing something else," retorted Nero as he readied Devil Bringer. Too overcome with rage, the gorilla charged right at Nero, raising its right fist to try and crush him again. It threw the fist with all its might but suddenly was stopped as Nero threw out Devil Bringer. A bright flash erupted and the gorilla's fist collided with a giant spectral hand. The gorilla could only look on in confusion and shock as it remained frozen in its place, "You'll be learning how to _fly!"_

With a shout of effort, Nero used Devil Buster to completely flip the beast over him holding onto the fist. The gorilla collided with the ground, shaking it. But Nero wasn't finished. Still gripping the limb, the demon hunter proceeded to smash him into the ground again, doing so about three times until he decided to give the beast its flying lesson. Spinning around, dragging the beast across the soil, Nero tossed the gorilla into the air. Whilst it was still in the air, the demon hunter pulled Devil Bringer back as far as he needed to, Devil Buster doing the same as Nero sent a powerful blow right towards the gorilla's midsection.

The spectral hand collided with the beast, sending it spiraling into the air, above the trees into the distance, most likely deeper into the woods.

"Guess he was all bark and no bite," scoffed Nero as he holstered Blue Rose and rolled his wrist around. However, despite reveling in his victory over the gorilla, the weight of the situation came right back to Nero. He was still stuck here, wherever here was.

"Got nothing to call the old man and my one ticket home is in a thousand pieces," said Nero to himself, " _Great._ What the heck am I supposed to do now?"

Looking at the sky, the demon hunter figured he makes the best of a bad situation.

"Standing around ain't gonna do anything," sighed Nero as he decided to try and find a town or village, or something in this world. So, picking a random direction, Nero began to trek into the forest, hopefully to find someone or something. If he ran into that gorilla again, well, too bad for the monkey.

About fifteen minutes into his walk, Nero had time to reflect on what happened in the last fifteen minutes. His best bet of getting him is now a pile of rocks, then getting attacked by a self-centered purple monkey; it was safe to say the demon hunter was more than a little annoyed about the current situation. However, despite his misgivings, a small part of him, a very small part, was actually curious to see where he ended up. The only other world he ever heard of was the Demon World and from first impressions, he was fairly certain he wasn't there. Wondering how different this world is from his own definitely something Nero was curious about. So putting aside his worries, some that were beyond his control, he pressed on into the forest. Hopefully to find some sort of village.

After a full hour of walking, Nero had come across no signs of life or at least intelligent life. Growling to himself, that he might have picked the wrong direction, which would be completely typical for him, he heard a noise. Stopping for a moment to listen, it vaguely resembled the sound of someone shouting. It didn't have the same tone as the gorilla he fought so on the off chance, he found a city or town at least.

 _'Finally, people!'_ Thought Nero in joy, _'People means towns, and towns mean answers...'_ however, the former knight stopped as he realized something he should've come to do so sooner. Looking down into his Devil Bringer, _'And people also probably getting freaked out by my demon arm.'_

Sighing, he knew that the solution was simple. He merely had to wrap his arm around with the black athletic tape in his pocket, and then wear his red glove. He reached into his left pocket and reached for his roll of tape.

The boy frowned when he did not feel his roll of black athletic tape.

Pulling his hand out, Nero saw that he held his red finger-less glove. The boy then patted down his entire body, hoping that he had simply misplaced it. However, he remembered how he was blasted back when the disc shattered, the tape must've been knocked out of his pocket somehow and he didn't notice it.

"So I have a glove, with no tape to go with it... Swell," he muttered.

Sighing, Nero then chose to do the next course of action. He put the red glove over his right hand, and then pulled down the right sleeve of his coat to cover his arm. He also rolled up the cuff at the end to cover his forehand. He looked at his arm with satisfaction. So long as he did not attract too much attention to himself, or display his right hand for all to see, he would be fine.

Making his way towards the source of the shouting. Spending about a good five minutes walking, Nero came across a clearing in the forest. However, he really shouldn't have been as surprised as he was by what he found.

About twenty to thirty men were gathered within the clearing, they all wore roughly the same thing: brown and/or tan garbs, dark brown hoods, and dark leather armor. But what stuck out was the fact that they were all wielding medieval weapons; weapons like swords, spears, maces, axes, etc. None of them really held their weapon with any proper grip, much less stance, and by judging outward appearances, Nero could guess they were like thugs, thieves or bandits. At first, he would've questioned why they were using such old weapons, however, remembering the Order, they used swords, but swords with Exceed Systems built in. In contrast, the Holy Knights heavily outclassed then when it came to handling swords and medieval weapons.

Even still, that wasn't all he saw through the clearing. In between a gap in the group of hooded men, were three individuals. They were the truly strange thing about this whole scene, without a doubt, even to Nero who has seen plenty. One of them was a young girl, likely two years younger than himself, with shoulder-length, blond hair, tied in a ponytail to the right side of her head with a blue ribbon. She wore a white, sleeveless shirt that came with blue highlights, and a blue cross down the center of it, intersecting right around her chest. The blonde also wore a blue skirt and had a brown belt wrapped around her waist, which had a black whip and key ring connected to it. The key ring had eight keys on it, half being gold and the other half silver.

Another one of them was a young man who looked to be Nero's age with what appeared to be spiky, pink hair. He wore a black colored vest with gold trimming, which was open and without sleeves, revealing his well-muscled arms and chest. He also wore white, knee-length pants that were tightened to his legs by straps of black cloths. He also had a scarf wrapped around his neck that bore something of a scale-like pattern, reminiscent to that of the scales of a lizard.

However, what had Nero's full attention was the fact that the guy's hand, which was clenched into a tight fist was completely on fire. But he didn't seem to notice at all, if anything, he looked perfectly fine. What was even more surprising was that he bore an excited, expression; a wide toothy grin on his face with a look in his eyes that said he was itching for a fight with the thieves around them. But Nero wasn't entirely certain what to make of the final member.

The third member of the odd trio was, well, Nero didn't really know what it was. Other than it appeared to be a humanoid, blue cat, about the same size as a regular household cat. It had a white underbelly and had a pale green backpack around its neck and over its back. What stood out most to Nero, other than the existence of such a feline, was the fact that it had two small angel-like wings coming from the back. It was currently using those wings to fly at around the same height as its two allies and was holding a large fish with the flesh being picked clean, leaving only the skeleton, barring the head.

Finding a vantage point within the branches of the trees, Nero hid in one the trees, sitting down on a branch and leaned back. He needed to figure out who exactly was in the good, meaning he'd have to figure out who to help if he needed to. But still, he would admit that he had no words to describe the very odd sight before him.

The pink haired teen laughed loudly, "Hahahaa! Alright, yah hood-wearin' losers! I hope you guys like barbeque, that's cause I'm gonna cook yah like smoked fish!"

"How many times do I have to tell you?" interjected the blue cat, to Nero's surprise that it could speak perfect English, "Everyone knows that you make smoked fish with _smoke_ , not _fire_."

"Get off my case, furball!" snapped the pink haired boy as he turned towards the cat with an annoyed expression on his face.

"A flying cat that can talk, huh?" muttered Nero to himself, "Not the strangest thing I've seen."

"Do you really believe that we're gonna lose to a couple of kids and their cat?! You must be dumber than the rumors about you let on, boy," mocked one of the thieves.

Whipping back to look at the man, the kid had an enraged expression and look of fury in his eyes, "WHAT'D YOU SAY?!" demanded the kid.

 _'Does everyone here have a short fuse?'_ thought Nero, but those thoughts quickly vanished when he noticed that when the pinked haired kid got angry, the flames around his fist grew brighter and larger.

"You all must be used to robbing from helpless travelers, you jerks.." spoke the blond girl as she pulled a key from her keyring. However, the key was weird in the way that its blade was shaped in a way close to that of an ax, "Otherwise you'd know that threatening wizards is a stupid mistake. We get paid to bring you in whether you surrender or not, so why don't you do us both a favor and give up?!"

 _'Wait? Wizards?'_ thought Nero as he leaned forward slightly, now he was really curious, _'Guess it makes sense with the salmon head's fist on fire...'_

"Take 'em down!" ordered one of the thugs that stepped out of the crowd and pointed angrily at the trio, in his right hand was his mace as he pointed with his left.

With that one order, the shouting man and three more hooded goons began to charge the pink-haired boy. However, he didn't look at all worried and if anything, he looked even more ready for a fight. Nero was sure of this if the excited expression on the kid's face was any indicator.

"Oh yeah! I'm all fired up now!" exclaimed the wizard, who might also be a pyromaniac.

Without warning, the boy leaped right into the air, so high in fact that Nero had to look up through the branches to see him. It was pretty clear that whoever this was, he was very, very different from any human. Also, while he was in the air, the pink-haired kid's arms were wreathed in fire.

 **"Fire Dragon...WING ATTACK!"** bellowed the kid. Ater shouting that he swung his arms in a circle and after every swing, the intensity of the flames grew, and after a few more swings, he swung them at four approaching thugs. As a result, the ground beneath their feet erupted in a column of fire and sent them all flying, scorch marks decorating their bodies.

Several more men began to charge the pink-haired boy as well, haven't learned or haven't noticed the fate of their now-charred comrades. The boy then took a firm stance on the ground and began to puff out his cheeks far more than any human's should.

 **"Fire...Dragon... _ROOOAAARRRR!_ "** bellowed the kid as he placed his hands over his mouth, in a fashion that a musician would do when playing the trumpet. Without warning, ryhme, or reason, a titanic blast of fire erupted from the kid's mouth, threw his hands, and right at the charging thugs. The result was another dozen criminals sent flying, charred to the same degree as the ones before, only semiconscious this time.

" _*Whistle*_ damn," commented Nero. Even he would admit, that was awesome to watch.

Seeing their own numbers reduced by roughly a third of what they once were, most of the remaining thugs turned their attention to the blond girl, who responded only by thrusting her key forward.

"You're gonna regret running into us! There's a huge bounty on all of your heads, and we're gonna collect! **Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: _Taurus!_ "**

With a puff of smoke and the sound of a loud doorbell, a large, humanoid cow-man jumped out and into the fray. He was extremely buff, and had white skin with black splotches, just like a typical cow. He had black bull horns on his head, a golden nose ring, a golden cowbell hanging around his neck, and wore nothing other than a pair of black briefs and a large holster on his back, which contained a massive battleax.

"MooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Taurus exclaimed, flexing his muscles while doing so.

"Okay, Taurus! Time to kick some bandit butt!" the blonde wizard smiled.

Taurus grinned as his tightened his grip on his battle ax. "You got it, Miss Luuuuuucy!

Taurus then readies his battle ax as several men continue to charge both him and the blond girl, now known as Lucy.

"Okay, fellas! Give the lady's totally rockin' body some ROOOOOOOM!" the minotaur shouted.

Taurus swung his ax horizontally at the ground below the incoming bandits, destroying a portion of the ground beneath them, and sending them all flying into the air and landing back on the ground, unconscious.

Lucy smiled as she held up her hand for a high-five. "Great work, Taurus!"

Taurus high-fived Lucy and grinned as he boasted, "Well, this ain't my first rodeo."

As Lucy and Taurus prepared to face off against more bandits, the pink-haired boy and the blue cat were doing the same. And to Nero's incredible surprise, the flying blue cat had managed to actually render a thug unconscious that was looking to take out his pink-haired friend via sneak attack.

The fire wizard grinned and gave his cat friend a thumbs-up. "Way to go, lil' buddy!"

"Aye, sir!" the blue cat replied, smiling.

Nero couldn't help but be awed by the efficiency of the trio fighting together. Being a demon hunter, he should have lost the ability to be surprised, but he could never have expected to come across a scene like this. A kid with pink hair that can breathe fire, a minotaur summoning blonde, and a talking, flying, blue cat taking on roughly thirty bandits with little to no problem.

In a way, they reminded Nero of when he, Dante, and Trish worked together on jobs. They were fighting but seriously enjoyed themselves as they were doing so as well. It also wouldn't really do if he said that he didn't enjoy the performance. However, he didn't fail to notice one man, wearing clothing identical to the thugs, holding a very large knife. Nero's eyes narrowed as he saw the would-be assassin heading right for the blond chick, Lucy. What made it all the worse was the fact that none of her allies had taken notice of what was happening.

"Turn around...One of you turn around," muttered Nero as his eyes darted from the thug approaching Lucy closer and closer to her, then to her allies, "He's right there! Turn around!"

Nero was never one to ask anyone for anything, so it really pissed him out when the one time he did ask for something, nothing happened. Everyone was busy with their own fights, and it looked like the only way this would work out is if Nero got involved. Being reluctant at first, not really seeing how this involved him, but even he would never turn a blind eye to someone in danger. Sitting on the sidelines was over, and besides, he could use an excuse to hit something.

"Well, time to introduce myself to the locals," remarked Nero. Reaching towards his holster, he withdrew Blue Rose, opened the cylinder to see how many bullets he had. Seeing he had plenty, Nero snapped it shut.

Jumping down from the branch, Nero waited a second behind a tree before leaping out of the bushes and rushed the man from behind. He took aim right at the man's hand, aiming for the dagger and fired. A loud crack echoed throughout the clearing and a second later, the man let out a pained cry as the bullets struck his wrist, prompting everyone to stop fighting and turn to the source of the noise, including the would-be assassin. Exactly what the demon hunter wanted, he wanted their attention on him, not Lucy. Letting a roar of fury Nero leaped right at the man, performing a huge dropkick. Both his boots collided with the man's face with enough force to send him flying into a group of thugs.

The man impacted with the men, knocking several over, as for Nero, he landed right back on his feet and continued his charge. Heading right for the remaining thugs. Once in range, Nero slugged one of the men with Devil Bringer, knocking him unconscious and into more bandits who were also knocked unconscious.

Getting out of their stupor, the bandits tried charging Nero, but the hunter responded by crouching low, bringing Blue Rose back before swinging his arm out and spun the silver firearm around horizontally, all the while firing more rounds. Six thugs fired, six shoots echoed in the forest, and six unconscious men fell to the ground as they were knocked out instantly when the special bullets collided with their foreheads.

All of the bandits were now defeated and unconscious, something Nero was fine with. However, the quartet that was present wasn't exactly as relieved as he was, those being the pink kid, the minotaur, the cat, and Lucy, who all stared wide-eyed at a white-haired man wearing a blue coat, a red hoodie, blue jeans, black pants protectors, two rings on his left hand, and some kind of glove on his right, who just appeared out of nowhere with a silver gun.

"Well, that went pretty well," commented Nero as he spun Blue Rose around on his finger. However, the minor action of spinning the gun was enough to cause the gathered wizards to flinch.

Taurus readied his ax, "Listen here, buddy! If you so much as moooove that gun in-"

"Pretty hostile thanks for someone who just helped you guys," scoffed Nero as he turned to the group, but kept Devil Bringer from view.

"Hey!" cut in the blue cat, "What do you mean, 'helped us'?! We had that completely under control!"

"From where I was, you didn't," countered Nero.

Lucy turned to the blue cat and cried, "Shut up yah stupid cat!" She then turned back to Nero, "Okay, buddy, just who are you?! You better have an answer or I'll have Taurus take you out to pasture!"

Taurus nodded and folded his arms over his chest, "Mooooo..."

"Right," snorted Nero as he really didn't feel threatened, "I was just making a grand entrance when I saw this guy..." to indicate who was talking about, he pointed Blue Rose at the man who tried to stab Lucy in the back, prompting the wizards to follow where he was pointing although, carefully, "was about to stab _her_ in the back. Leading back to my previous statement that you didn't have everything under control when one of you almost bought it."

Lucy jumped slightly as her eyes widened in shock. Still retaining her surprised mien, she thought about it for a moment. If this man was being honest, then it made complete sense that he fired in her direction to knock the knife from the man's hand, then get him as far away from her as possible so he could deal with the others.

"Oh..." Lucy said sheepishly.

Taurus turned to Nero and asked, "...Is that truuuue...?"

"Wouldn't be saying if it wasn't," responded the hunter as he holstered Blue Rose.

Taurus's expression grew slightly downcast upon hearing that, though Nero couldn't really care what the reason was, but it still intrigued him. He'd have thought everyone would be happy he'd saved their friend.

Lucy turned to the cow-man. "It's okay, Taurus. I know you did the best you could. Why don't you go take a load off for a while, okay? Will that make you feel better?" She suggested.

"Well... You know what might make me feel better..." Taurus implied.

"What's that?" Lucy cocked her head, bemused.

Before anyone could say anything, Lucy's eyes widened in revelation and quickly narrowed in what seemed like annoyance.

"NO WAY, YA BIG PERV!" the blonde-haired girl shrieked.

Taurus clasped his hands together. "Oh, come on, Miss Lucy! Not even a _smooooooch_?"

"How many times do I have to say 'no'?! NOW GO HOME!"

With that, Lucy waved the golden key she had used to summon Taurus, and in another puff of smoke, and a faint flash of white light, the humanoid cow disappeared, wagging his tail with hearts in his eyes all the while.

Nero only grumbled as he folded his arms, perhaps getting too involved may have been a bad idea, and from the complete absurdity of what he had just seen. He didn't even want to think about it, so instead, he shook it off and once again focused on the matter at hand.

The pink-haired young man and blue cat both looked relieved upon hearing that this new man with a silver gun and sword strapped on his back was somewhat friendly if a little blunt and cynical. But not only that, but it had just saved one of their friends from certain death.

"Phew! That's a relief," He grinned widely, "Thanks a million, big guy! Lucy's one of our friends, and you just saved her life! That means you're alright by me!" He turned to the blue cat.,"Ain't that right, Happy?"

Happy raised his paw and smiled. "Aye!" he chimed.

The pink-haired boy pointed to himself. "My name's Natsu! I'm what you'd call a Dragon Slayer! What's _your_ name?"

"Nero," replied the hunter evenly.

"Why do you carry around a sword and a gun?" asked Happy off the bat.

"Because I'm a demon hunter for hire," answered Nero as a somewhat savage grin spread across his face.

Nero could only snort in amusement at the expression he received when he told the two wizards and cat in front of him that he killed demons for money. Since he nor Dante ever met some of their clients and Morrison being a big provider, seeing their expressions was somewhat amusing to him. Though, he would'be figured that they would've heard of hunters, or something like him if they were wizards. But it was clear that wasn't the case.

Taking a moment to look around at their surroundings, noticing they were still in the forest, meaning that a town wasn't anywhere close by, which also meant he was still lost. He then turned back to the trio and walked a few paces to the left of them as he folded his arms and glanced back at the still dumbstruck wizards, a bemused smirk on his face, knowing that they could be friendly enough to help him out. So the moment of truth came when Nero could finally ask someone, anybody he found a question that has been on his mind for the last hour or so.

"So..." asked the hunter as he glanced over his shoulder, "Mind telling me where exactly I am?"

 _ **To Be Continued...**_


	2. Chapter 2 Not The Usual Job Part 2

_**Okay, chapter 2. I'll be honest, did not expect such a popular response. Nearly twenty people have followed this story in the last day. So, to say thanks, I spent the entire day writing the next chapter, which is basically Nero getting more familiar with the world of Earthland, wizards, guilds, etc. Also, props to Ultimate10, thanks for okaying me to do this.**_

 _ **Also, I forgot to mention this in the previous chapter, but Nero doesn't have to be in his devil trigger form in order to access Yamato. In the game, there are several scenes where Nero is holding Yamato without being in his devil trigger form. For this reason, I'm going to assume he may have practiced using it and can do somethings like send waves of energy, like he created one when fighting Sanctus in the final battle. That being said, he can do a few things with the sword. Nothing like what Dante can do when he has it equipped. But, for this story, I'm going to give him the chance to use Yamato, not often as his main weapon weapons are Devil Bringer, Red Queen, and Blue Rose.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing, despite my imagination telling me otherwise.**_

* * *

 **Devil Tail**

 **Chapter 2: Not The Usual Job Part 2**

Natsu, Lucy, and Happy had all seen plenty of weird things in their times as wizards to Fairy Tail. However, what they weren't prepared for was when some random guy named Nero comes bursting out of the woods, shooting the knife out of the hand to Lucy's nearly successful assassin, and then dropkicks said assassin into a group of thieves they were hired to take down. Granted he looked normal in first impressions, aside from the double barrel revolver and the giant sword on his back, what really took the cake was when the guy just told them he was a Demon Hunter.

Demon Hunters were _rare_ to come across, and more often then not, they weren't the friendliest of people. Often only fighting if they were paid to do so. So getting help from one was really surprising.

Despite the initial shock, Lucy was the first to recover, enough so that she could answer Nero's question. It was pretty much the least she could do for him after he saved her life.

"You're in the forest, right outside of Oshibana. Why?" answered the blonde, but was slightly curious to figure out why he would need to ask.

"That a town or something?" asked Nero, giving a slightly confused expression as he put his hand into his pocket.

"Oshibana is a town," repeated Lucy, though only received a confused expression, "You know, near Clover and Onibus."

"Clover and Oni-what?" parroted Nero, leaving him only more confused by Lucy's statement.

"The Kingdom of Fiore?" tried Lucy, he had to know about that.

However, Nero only shrugged nonchalantly, having never heard of those places. Which wasn't a lie and he really didn't see the point in lying to these three.

"Seriously?" deadpanned Lucy, completely shocked that this guy didn't even know where he was. Like, it wasn't that ludicrous to not have heard of Oshibana if you're from another part of the world, but have never heard of the Fiore?!

"If you've never heard of Oshibana, then what are you doing so close by?" asked Happy, cutting into the conversation. He was also about as curious as Lucy to find out how Nero had never heard of Fiore.

"Let's say I'm new around here and kinda lost my way," replied Nero cryptically. He had to think of a good excuse, cause if told them he was from another world they might not believe. And if they did, it might make the situation all the more confusing, more than it needs to be, "Was making my way through the woods when I got jumped by some giant, green, gorilla. After dealing with it, I found-"

"Giant green gorilla...?" cut in Natsu, his eyes widening slightly, which prompted Nero to nod in confirmation, "It didn't happen to have pink hears on its arms, did it?"

"Thing did, from what I could see," confirmed the demon hunter as he turned to the Dragon Slayer.

"Man, I hate those things," huffed Natsu as he folded his arms across his chest, "Always walkin' around like they own the place..."

"Hmph, I can agree with that," said Nero in agreement.

"Wait," interjected Lucy, going back to the main source of her confusion, "so you have no clue where you are?"

"Not a one," shrugged the demon hunter.

"Don't you know where your home is?" asked Happy, wondering that if Nero knew where his home was, they could figure out how is that he didn't know about Fiore or any of the towns.

"Well there's a problem...I have no clue where my home is. Though, can't really say I really had one, to begin with," responded Nero which wasn't a total lie. Growing up in Fortuna was difficult, he never really felt like he belonged there. The only reason he didn't run away sooner was that of Kyrie and Credo. All the worship and how humans are weak kinda irked him a little. And after the Savior and Sanctus, he didn't really feel 'at home' in Devil May Cry, so he never really had a home, or at least, that's what he felt.

"Do you know how you ended up here at least?" asked Natsu, voicing his own question.

Nero shifted his stance awkwardly as his left hand went up to scratch his nose. He couldn't really tell them he was from another universe or world in general. However, if it became a problem, or if it was necessary, he'd tell them. But there are somethings he'd like to keep a secret, one being his heritage. So, thinking fast, he was about to try to come up with some excuse, that was until Natsu cut in.

"If you don't know where your home is, and you felt like you never really had one, maybe you should come back with us to our guild!" offered the firebreather, a very wide and toothy grin on his face.

"'Guild', huh?" repeated Nero, blinking a bit in confusion by what the pyromaniac had said. Just what exactly was a guild here?

"Uh, Natsu?" interjected Lucy, turning to the aforementioned Dragon Slayer with a slightly curious, and slightly concerned expression, "Are you sure it's okay to invite random strangers to the guild without the Master's permission?"

"Oh don't be a downer!" assured the wizard as he carelessly put his hands behind his head, "I'm sure Gramps will be cool with it, and besides: he did just help us."

"True," admitted Lucy, seeing no real reason to say otherwise, but that didn't stop Happy from voicing his own opinion on the matter.

"You're sure that's okay with the Master, Natsu?" asked Happy, a slightly concerned expression on his furry face.

"Of course it is!" Exclaimed Natsu as he went over to Nero and threw an arm over his shoulder, causing the demon hunter to narrow his eyes at the pink haired Dragon Slayer, "All we gotta do is just explain how he helped and we're done! Nero'll have a place to crash!" Releasing the white-haired man, he gave a wide grin to him, "So, what do yah say?"

Nero was slightly annoyed with how upbeat the guy seemed to be, and the sudden, if not immediate offer for a place to stay was a little suspicious. But it's not like he has many other options, most of which would take a much longer time and he doubt he would get another chance like this. However, there was one issue: his arm.

"Listen..." began Nero before he trailed off.

"You don't have to if you don't want to..." offered Lucy a sense of choice.

"But you totally should!" Natsu urged, trying really hard to get Nero to join. One: he didn't have a place to stay, and two: he was a freakin' demon hunter! With a demon hunter, Fairy Tail would practically be unstoppable, "You said you didn't know where your home is, right?"

"I did," nodded the hunter.

It was then Nero looked away from the group to the ground as he turned his back to them. Unconsciously, he pulled Devil Bringer out of his pocket and gripped his wrist. He didn't really know how to respond to the situation, not being the most sociable person in Fortuna so his social skills weren't that great. Plus, things went by incredibly quickly, just ten minutes ago, they had met and now the pink-haired kid was offering him a place to stay. It went without saying that he was a little grateful for the offer, but the question remained: should he take it?

Nero glanced back over his shoulder, taking a look at each of them: Natsu with a wide, very toothy grin on his face; Happy and Lucy with smiles on their faces. The trio was completely new to him, that much was clear, but they were also incredibly friendly and welcoming to him right off the bat. It might have to do with the fact that they wanted to say thank you, for helping them and saving Lucy's life, so to repay him, they were offering him a place to stay. If there was one thing he learned from Dante in his time with Devil May Cry, it was: 'take what you can get'.

"So?" asked Natsu, "You wanna come with us?"

"It's not like I have anywhere else to be," replied Nero after a moment of hesitation, "Yeah, I'll go with you."

"Alright!" grinned the Dragon Slayer as he pumped his fist, "Then what are we standin' around here for?! Let's get movin'!"

"Aye, sir!" agreed Happy as the two began to leave.

The duo began to walk off in a random direction, Happy flying right after Natsu, seemingly prepared to exit the forest. But neither of them made it into the forest, or at least past five steps before Lucy had grabbed the pink-haired fire lunatic and flying blue cat by their scarf and backpack, halting their progress.

"Did you two dunderheads already forget that we have a job to finish?!" screamed Lucy.

Natsu grinned sheepishly, "Heheh...yeah, my bad. Forgot about that."

Lucy then released Natsu and Happy, and the trio turned to face the pile of unconscious bandits, Nero following the direction of their gaze.

"You guys were hired to take down these lowlifes?" asked Nero as he folded his arms.

Yup!" Lucy smiled proudly. "The job request came from one of the guards at Oshibana Station. He had a suspicion that these thugs might've been hiding out in the forest near town for a few months, but since the town doesn't have many wizards, and he couldn't prove it to any of his superiors, he called for help from wizards all over. We just happened to be the ones who struck gold and found 'em!"

"Yeah," Natsu folded his arms over his chest, "but now we have to drag 'em all back to the station where the guard is. How do you suggest we do _that_?"

Lucy's excited mien quickly shifted to one of thought, and then to one of disappointment as she realized Natsu was right. However, all was not lost as Nero spotted a tree, one that was tall enough to have about twenty to thirty people across the trunk if the tree was to be chopped down. With the idea in mind, he turned to the three wizards, a tiny smirk on his face.

"If it's all the same to you, I think I might have a way to help you out," offered the hunter.

"What?" asked Lucy as he eyes went wide and she turned to Nero, "Oh no, we couldn't ask you to do that."

"Maybe, but I don't plan to stick around here and like you said, you need to get these guys to that guard station and I don't hear any other ideas," countered Nero as he walked towards the aforementioned tree, "Besides, you're offering me a place to live; at least I could do is return the favor and help out."

"Well, if you say so..." Lucy conceded.

"I got no problem with it!" Natsu said, "So what's your plan?"

"My plan is this:" answered Nero as he took hold of Red Queen's handle, and gripped it tightly in his left hand. With a good grip, he swung the sword right at the base of the trunk. With his already ridiculous strength, Dante even saying that he was like to be stronger than even himself in terms of brute strength, and the incredibly sharp blade of Red Queen, Nero sliced right through the tree in one swing.

The tree teetered then fell, landing about ten feet from the pile of unconscious thugs. Walking up to where the branches first begin to spread out, Nero sliced the crown from the trunk. With the newly formed log, Nero pushed it right towards the group.

"We'll lay these guys across the trunk and drag the tree to wherever you guys need to go," explained Nero as he sheathed Red Queen and turned to the wizards.

"Sounds like a plan," nodded Lucy.

"See if you can find some rope; it'll make my job easier when dragging this thing," added the hunter as he grabbed two thugs and dumped them on the log.

After a few minutes, all thirty thugs were laid on the log. Lucy found a rope on one of the unconscious men, tying it to the top of the log. With everything set, Nero grabbed the rope and looked towards the wizards.

"Lead the way," requested Nero as he took up the slack.

"The station is this way," directed Lucy as she pointed towards the forest.

"Follow us, Mr. Demon Hunter Man," said Happy excitedly.

"Don't call me that," snapped Nero harshly, glaring at Happy.

"Okay!" whimpered the feline.

And with that, the group was off, with Lucy in the lead, and Happy, Natsu, and Nero, who was dragging the log with his left hand, trailed behind the group. About ten minutes of walking/dragging later, the group finally arrived at the edge of the forest and in the distance, they could see the top bits of the Oshibana Station through a clearing of trees and behind a few buildings. Mercifully, the Oshibana Station was pretty big; likely the tallest in the city. Even by the end of the journey, Nero wasn't even winded, but that didn't stop him from internally gripping.

 _'So this is Oshibana?'_ thought Nero, _'I wouldn't mind if it was a little closer.'_

"Oshibana is right up ahead!" pointed Lucy, directly in front of them, "Reward money, here we come!"

With that, the quartet trekked on. After about a minute of walking, they came across the entrance of the town, where a few guards were located. Upon seeing them, the guards alerted some others, who helped take the unconscious thugs off the wizards and hunter's hands. All of them, very happy to not have to do any fighting themselves. But as luck would have it, the guard that hired Natsu, Lucy, and Happy was not among the guards that took the bandits into custody.

A guard that was among the group that took the bandits, was kind enough to update the wizards and hunter that the one who put in the job request was still at the station. Meaning, that they would have to go to the station to collect the payment. It wasn't really a problem to any of them as they actually needed to go there any way to get back to the guild hall, by way of train.

Walking into the bustling town, they headed towards the center of the town, where the station was located. As they were walking to the station, Nero noticed the town was extremely low tech like most cities in his world, baring Fortuna. The city was located on an island off the coast of the US, so it was very isolated. Add in the fact that it was very grounded in the belief that Sparda was basically a God, people actively rejected a few things from the rest of the world, one being elements of modern culture. But it still received shipments and was updated on world effects. However, a few things like his headset and some appliances like TVs, Nero had to make himself.

Going back to the city, the group eventually reached the station at the center of the town. It was a very large building, brown, brick arches, and green-tiled roofing, as well as two tower-like structures on either side of it. The railway extended from inside the building to either direction outside, and off into the distance both ways.

After a moment, they entered the building where the client, who had been informed by one of his allies that his request has been filled by a group of wizards. Said wizards were waiting for him, and the money that was promised if they finish the job. After thanking the group and handing Lucy their reward, the four then went to one of the many benches that were lined up along the edge of the train tracks. Nero made a long glance around the area, and he would admit it was impressive but reminded him of a little of the Order's Headquarters back in his universe.

"Can you believe it?!" Lucy yelled excitedly, "There was actually a bonus if nothing got destroyed!"

"I assume that destroying stuff is something that happens often?" wondered Nero, having folded his arms, to keep Devil Bringer concealed as well as to show his surprise.

Lucy slouched her head and shoulders, and mumbled, "You have no idea..."

"Good thing we weren't in the town when we fought 'em," Happy pointed out, "Otherwise, Natsu might've destroyed the railroad again."

"Hey, man! That wasn't my fault and you know it!" Natsu retorted, annoyed. He then crossed his arms, "If you want someone to blame, blame that dress-wearin' windbag, why don't yah..."

"You might wanna explain to me what Natsu means by: 'Dress-wearin' windbag'," commented Nero, not fully understanding what Happy and Natsu were referring to.

"It's a long story...," Lucy simply stated. It didn't take more than a couple of seconds for Lucy's downcast expression to change back to one of excitement once again, "Anyway, I'm gonna go pay for our train tickets with some of the money we just earned! Be right back!"

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Nero as Lucy happily skipped away towards the ticket booth which was conveniently placed against a wall behind the group of four.

Nero couldn't decide if the constant upbeat attitude was something he'd get annoyed by really quickly, or if it'd grow on him. But he then noticed Natsu slump into his seat on a bench that was close to them. His expression far more irked than before.

"Great...," griped Natsu, not looking forward to the train ride in the slightest.

"What's your problem?" asked Nero.

"Natsu and vehicles don't mix very well," Happy explained, "He gets _super_ motion sick."

Nero arched an eyebrow slightly as he looked at Natsu. He didn't know if the information he was given was funny or if it was weird. The guy could shoot fire from his hands and breath fire and his weakness is vehicles?

"Just how bad are we talking here?"

"Really bad. You'll see."

"Well, if he pukes on me, I'm throwing his ass off the train," warned Nero, making it pretty clear that he wasn't about to get puke all over him.

With that said, the howl of the train's whistle broke through the noise of the station and not a moment too soon as Lucy arrived with the tickets. With their tickets and the train having just arrived, the group boarded the train.

Fives minutes on the train were spent looking for a compartment and eventually, one was found. Getting settled into the compartment, Lucy and Nero sat on one side with Natsu and Happy sat on the opposite. Some people were still boarding the train, so the journey hadn't started yet. However, Natsu was still as nervous as ever, even though they weren't moving.

"Earlier, you said you guys were taking me to you 'guild', or something?" recalled Nero, turning to the blonde girl to his right.

"Yup!" Lucy smiled. "We're wizards from the Fairy Tail guild." She then began to squeal girlishly, "And ours is the greatest guild ever!" she giggled giddily to herself.

"Right," drawled Nero as he cocked an eyebrow, in slight skepticism and confusion.

Whatever she was referring to had her excited, clearly. However, it did little to clean up any confusion. If anything, it made him slightly more confused.

"As someone new to the area, mind telling me what exactly 'Fairy Tail' is?" asked Nero.

Lucy's giddy giggling came to a screeching halt when Nero asked her that question. Turning to him, Lucy's jaw was hanging open as she looked at him with complete shock by what was just asked.

"Are you serious?!" She cried, "You've never heard of _Fairy Tail_?!"

"Wouldn't have asked if I did," shrugged Nero, further shocking the blonde wizard to the core.

"They're only the most famous wizard guild in all of Fiore! They've done countless interviews in Sorcerer Weekly Magazine, and-"

"What do you mean, 'they'?" Natsu interrupted. "You're a member now too, or did you forge-"

Before Natsu could even finish his inquiry, the train finally began to move. The look on Natsu's face grew more and more apprehensive by the second. Much to Nero's confusion and ire should things head south.

"Buddy, we just started moving, calm down," requested Nero, but was not prepared for what happened next.

Suddenly, Natsu began sweating from practically every pore on his face, somewhat startling Nero as his left hand instinctively went to Blue Rose. However, Lucy and Happy were hardly fazed by the sight of their friendly sweating profusely.

Nero was about to step out and try to avoid the situation and maybe get some help, but before he could even rise out of his seat, Natsu's cheeks puffed out while his face turned a sickly green color.

"I am...so sick..." groaned Natsu as his expression of puking grew even more intense. He quickly covered his mouth.

"We barely crawling and he's this sick?" asked Nero incredulously, not even beginning to understand how the guy got this sick so fast.

Happy shrugged, "That's Natsu for yah."

"How is that he gets motion sickness that fast?" asked the hunter as he turned to Lucy, "Let me guess; he's like this for any vehicle?"

"Don't worry about it. He'll be fine," Happy dismissed.

"If he pukes on me, his motion sickness should be the last thing _he_ should worry about," threatened Nero as he stretched his legs out and slouched down in the chair.

Natsu looked at Happy, weakly, "How could you abandon me?!" He covered his mouth again.

Nero looked down at Natsu, in pity and some minor shock at how fast the guy has motion sickness. It really shouldn't be possible for someone to get sick _that_ fast. But then again, he was in a new world so biology could be different. Even still, Nero quickly let Natsu be and regained himself in his seat. After a few minutes, he glanced at Lucy, a question having appeared in his mind. Something to do with these 'guilds' Lucy keeps mentioning.

"Hey, Lucy. Mind if I ask you something?" asked Nero.

"Yeah?"

"You said something about 'guilds'," recalled the hunter, "Mind telling me what exactly the deal is with them and what they are?"

Both Lucy and Happy looked at Nero incredulously. Natsu likely would have done so as well, but right now, he was preoccupied with trying to remain conscious due to his motion sickness.

"You can't be serious," said Lucy, in complete disbelief, "First Oshibana, then Fairy Tail, and now guilds in general?"

"Yeah, it's super weird." Happy commented, "Shouldn't you know this stuff? I mean, demon hunters are basically wizards too, after all."

Nero was a little surprised, though was a little intrigued. He had been called a few things when the order found out he was part demon: traitor being one of the most popular. However, being called a wizard was something he wouldn't think he'd ever be labeled as. And in a sense, Demon power is magic in a sense, but he didn't know how different it was compared to the magic of this world.

"Kinda hard to know about some of these things when you live on an island that has decided to isolate itself from the rest of the world," retorted Nero, having to think about his response in order for it to make sense, "And I don't use magic often."

"Huh?" asked Lucy and Happy at the same time, a little surprised to hear that Nero grew up on an island completely isolated. Natsu would've commented as well, but motion sickness.

"But, how is that possible?" demanded Lucy, "The island part, okay, but you _have_ to use magic! Anybody who can slice through a tree with one swing of a sword, or drag a log with thirty thugs on it for about a mile has to use magic!"

"Yeah," agreed Happy, sharing the same confusion as the blonde wizard.

"Look," stated Nero, taken aback by their reactions to his response, though he really shouldn't be surprised by what he's seen so far in this world. Having its own history and common knowledge, something that Nero was sorely lacking, coming from an entirely different world. He could try his luck and tell them exactly what his situation is, being from another world, but would they believe him? It was difficult enough for them to believe he didn't use magic often, "I'll explain everything later, but not here. I'd like to keep this private."

Lucy and Happy merely looked at each other, then back to Nero, and nodded. They didn't know why he was being so secretive, or why he was claiming he didn't use magic, or at least often, but they decided to leave the subject alone for now per his request.

Knowing that they would respect his decision, Nero reclined a bit more into his seat. At least they were willing to wait.

"At least you guys are willing to listen, thanks. I'll explain everything, knowing you both are curious," thanked Nero, something he wasn't accustomed to doing, at least often or to strangers, "Though, if you wouldn't mind telling me about the magic you guys used back there, it would be really appreciated."

Happy and Lucy quickly leaned in close to each other, and began to whisper amongst themselves.

"Are you sure we should tell him?" whispered Happy, though not quietly, "He said he doesn't use magic typically, but what if he's lying?"

"Sure, _act_ like I'm not sitting directly across from you," cut in Nero, not at all amused that they were whispering about him when he is still present. However, his comment went unnoticed or ignored by Lucy and Happy as they continued to whisper.

"Let's give him a chance. He helped us out twice today, after all. What could it hurt?" Lucy replied.

A few seconds later, Lucy returned her attention to Nero, resuming her previously upbeat demeanor.

"Well, I guess that's understandable. There aren't too many people who use my kind of magic out there," She smiled, "I'm what's called a Celestial Wizard. I can use my Gate Keys to summon Celestial Spirits that I've made contracts with."

"Like that minotaur: Taurus?" recalled Nero.

"Yup! He's one of the Zodiac Spirits. There are only twelve of them, so their keys are pretty hard to come by. Their keys are gold, but there are also silver keys too. Silver Gate Keys are a lot more common, and you can even find them in magic shops. Here, I'll show you one..."

Lucy stood up from her seat, and reached for her key ring. From it, she pulled off a silver key. The key's blade was shaped like a small paw, oddly enough. She thrust the key forward, just as she did with Taurus's back in the forest.

 **"Open, Gate of the Little Dog: _Nikola_!"**

With a puff of smoke and the following loud doorbell, a small orb of light appeared. As quickly as it appeared, the orb began to shift, and after a few seconds, the light dispersed. Revealing a small, white creature with beady eyes, a round head, and a nose that looked almost like a carrot. In all honesty, it somewhat resembled a snowman with skinny arms and legs. For some odd reason, it was constantly shivering, even though it was fairly warm inside the train.

Nero stared at the animal, his eyebrow cocked up slightly as the creature continued to shiver. Looking at it for a few moments, before turning to Lucy a blank to the point of being borderline unimpressed expression on his face, "Whoever gave you that key probably scammed you. Pretty sure this one's a dud."

"DUMMY, HE'S SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE THAT!" Lucy yelled.

The Celestial wizard quickly reached down and picked up the strange, white creature, and began to snuggle it intensely, though the creature seemed to retain its original expression as she did so.

"You're not a dud, are you, Plue?" She said in a puppy-dog voice, "You're the most adorable spirit ever, aren't you? Yes, you are!"

"I think the name 'Frosty' would be more appropriate. But isn't it called 'Nikola', or is that its species or something?" commented Nero, thinking that the reason she said Nikola was because of the species.

"Yeah, Nikola is the species," confirmed Lucy as she stopped snuggling Plue and turned to Nero, "And I liked the name Plue, better!"

"To each their own, I guess," shrugged Nero.

Turning away from the blonde Celestial Wizard, he looked at Natsu, who was currently shivering about as much as Plue was. He was slouched so far down into his seat that if he went any further, he was likely to fall out of it. It appeared Natsu had motion sickness so bad that Nero actually felt bad for him. Or he would've if he hadn't remembered something about the firebreather and was curious to ask.

"What about this guy?" asked Nero, jerking his head to Natsu, "If I remember, I think he said he was something called a Dragon Slayer. So, did he kill a dragon to get his abilities, or is that what's it called?"

Hearing his pink-headed friend's name mentioned, Happy suddenly tuned in, apparently having not been paying attention during Lucy's explanation of her own magic to Nero.

"Oh no; even though Dragon Slayer Magic was created to fight dragons, Natsu's never used it on one," Happy clarified, "Actually, it was a dragon that taught it to him in the first place."

"Kinda ironic that a Dragon would teach someone how to kill other dragons," commented the hunter, a little surprised to hear that Natsu was trained by a dragon. What's more, Nero got the notion that dragons in this world would differ by a mile compared to the few that are in his, "Any reason this dragon taught Natsu how to kill its own kind with his magic?"

Happy shrugged. "I dunno. I just know that the only way for a human to learn Dragon Slayer Magic is to be taught by one. Natsu was raised by a Fire Dragon named Igneel. _He's_ the one who taught it to him."

"Woah, Woah, what?" cut off Nero as he looked at Happy incredulously. Natsu was _raised_ by a dragon? As in fire, wings, scales, etc? He'd seen and heard a lot of weird things, this one took the cake, "Natsu, was raised by a _Dragon_?"

Happy simply nodded, much to Nero's surprise as he leaned back in his chair. He let out a snort of surprise before staring at the Dragon Slayer, allegedly raised by a dragon. It shouldn't surprise him as much as it does, after all, Dante and his brother were raised by Sparda, the Dark Knight, at least, for a little while before he vanished. After a moment, he turned back to Happy.

"So, where is Iggy, right now?" asked Nero.

The blue cat shook his head, "Nobody knows. Seven years ago, Igneel just disappeared. Didn't even tell Natsu where he was going. No one's seen a dragon since, but even so, Natsu's been looking all over for Igneel since that day, always chasing rumors of dragon sightings whenever he can."

"Hopefully, looking for this guy won't end up killing him," muttered Nero grimly.

A moment of silence passed in the train compartment. Nero took another look at Natsu, who was still just as motion sick as ever. Despite how crazy it was that the pink-haired wizard was brought up by a dragon, he couldn't help but feel sympathy for him, at least a little. Having the only parent you've ever known just up and disappear one day must be extremely hard, especially at a young age. He would know, his own adopted parents were killed when he was ten by demons. And it sounds like Natsu' pretty desperate to Igneel him too. Even so, had Happy not just explained all this to him, he'd have likely never noticed that desperation simply by interacting with Natsu. Back in the forest, he seemed to be full of energy and life.

The remainder of the train ride was relatively quiet, but Nero used some of the time get a better understanding of what guilds were. Lucy had explained that a wizard guild is basically a place for wizards to find work, which more often than not, results in helping others in some shape, way, or form. They also gave those wizards a place to call home, and people to call family. Somehow, it reminded Nero of Devil May Cry, except more magic and more jobs and no crippling debt. Something Nero was slightly jealous of cause Dante was always in debt, so to hear that there was a chance to make a profit peaked his interest.

Happy went on to explain how all of the magic guilds are run by their respective guild masters, who all report to what's called the Magic Council, a government of sorts for the magical world. The various guild masters are responsible for any mischief or destruction the members of their guild may cause, which usually results in a lot of paperwork.

Lucy also explained that wizards can team up and form smaller groups within the guild to take on more difficult jobs together, with each receiving a fraction of the reward. She went on to inform him that she, Happy, and Natsu, were all part of a team, along with two others, and that this team was regarded by some as the strongest team in Fairy Tail.

To say thanks, Nero decided to humor them and give some basic things about him, nothing about he was a demon hybrid. He did, however, explain that he had superhuman strength, speed, durability, reflexes, and a small healing factor, and could access some magic. Suffice to say, was enough to leave their jaws hanging down to the floor.

As more questions were asked and answers were given, Happy suddenly cut in with a question of his own for Nero.

"You're a demon hunter, so what do you use to hunt demons? You said you don't use magic," Asked the blue feline.

"I'm actually curious as well," added Lucy, as she looked at Nero, "Like you said that you don't often use magic so, how do you fight demons if you don't use magic."

"That is something I can show you," replied Nero, and for a second, neither Lucy or Happy was sure, but they swore they saw him smile a little. Standing up, Nero reached for his back, "I'd like to introduce you two, too," announced the hunter as his left hand went up to the handle of Red Queen and brought the mighty weapon out, "Red Queen."

He planted the tip of Red Queen into the floor of the train, careful not to shove it all the way through. Lucy and Happy didn't know much about swords, but looking at Red Queen, they could tell this was a very impressive sword. However, Lucy then noticed something about the handle.

"Is that a throttle?" asked the blonde wizard.

Instead of answering, Nero just grinned almost savagely and revved the Exceed System. Flammable gas sprayed out of the exhaust and engulfed the blade in flames for a second, giving Red Queen and eerie red glow. Nero revved it twice and just enjoyed the surprised expressions of both Lucy and Happy.

"That is awesome!" shouted Happy, thinking it was pretty cool. He was pretty sure that not even Erza had a sword like that.

"She is, but she isn't the only weapon I use," spoke Nero as he sheathed Red Queen and reached for Blue Rose. Taking out the powerful revolver, he spun it on his finger and showed it to both Lucy and Happy, "this is Blue Rose, a revolver I made and designed myself."

"It's pretty," commented Lucy, noting the rose like carvings and designs made into the barrels, the cylinder, and the wooden handle, "anything else?"

"I'll explain what else I can do at the guild, how about that?" offered Nero.

Happy and Lucy agreed, if only because Nero hadn't given them a reason not to press for more questions. The demon hunter decided to hold off on some more, demonic things he can do. However, Nero made a note of something: In this world, there were dozens of different types of magic, but even so, wizards typically only practiced one, though they could learn a few spells here and there that were outside of their specialties. If Fairy Tail thought they had seen a lot, boy, they were going to be seeing plenty when Nero got into the fray.

* * *

 _Later_

After a few hours on the train, and Natsu periodically chucking his innards out the window, especially under the threat of being thrown out by Nero, the group had arrived in the bustling town of Magnolia, home of the famous Fairy Tail guild. The group rose from their seats in the compartment and made their way off of the train. As soon as Natsu set foot on the ground, he seemed to almost immediately recover from his motion sickness, something Nero took note of.

 _'Guess it would make sense that it would go just as a fast as it came,'_ joked Nero as he watched the Dragon Slayer recover rapidly.

However, the demon hunter raised an eyebrow in surprise when Natsu suddenly raised his fists into the air and shot a stream of fire from his mouth up into the air.

"I'M ALIVE AGAIN!" Natsu shouted exuberantly.

"Dial it back a notch," muttered Nero, knowing that if he didn't, there was the likelyhood that Natsu might set fire to something

And it seemed he was alone as Lucy stepped up to slap Natsu upside the back of his head, thus bringing his celebratory flame-spouting to an end.

"Not here, Natsu!" the blonde yelled, "You'll burn down the station or something! And we are _not_ spending any more of our reward money paying for damages!"

With that, the group set off and exited the station. Upon entering the town itself, Nero was a little surprised at how far the buildings went on. The three Fairy Tail wizards didn't give him a tour, per se, but they did point out various shops and other establishments as they walked through the massive town, however, the amount of people did make the hunter a little paranoid as he shoved Devil Bringer deep into his right pocket. He didn't need to broadcast the fact that his arm looks like a demonic appendage, which it was. However,

As they were walking, Nero noted that the town held a strong resemblance to Oshibana in a sense. Which meant, it bore some resemblance to Fortuna, back in Nero's world, but even so, they still had a somewhat new, fresh air about them. It would appear that this world wasn't as technologically advanced as his. Or from what he has seen so far.

Eventually, the group came up on the large cathedral in the center of town, which Lucy had informed Nero was called Kardia Cathedral. It was massive, or at least compared to the buildings surrounding it. To the hunter, the cathedral reminded him a lot of the cathedral back in Fortuna, to an extent anyway. Back on Earth, Nero had seen plenty of buildings, some in Europe when a job had him, Dante, and Trish traveling, so he had seen plenty. But given the technological gap of this world and his, it was certainly worthy of praise.

After the brief stop, the wizards led Nero down the street behind the cathedral, and across a bridge overhanging a river that ran throughout Magnolia. They had even seen people in small boats rowing under the bridge as they passed, with one of them calling out to Lucy, telling her to be careful and not to fall in.

After a few minutes of walking through the somewhat crowded street, they eventually came upon the Fairy Tail guild hall. The building sat close to the edge of a cliff overlooking a large lake, known as Lake Scilliora. It was fairly tall, though not as tall as Kardia Cathedral, and strongly resembled a pagoda. It had white walls, and a large, decorated, red door, as well as two red, pentagonal windows on either side of it. Above the door was a wooden sign that read "Fairy Tail" in big, blue letters, while the sign itself had a gold trim, as well as two symmetrical, fairy-like silhouettes, both of which had tails, fittingly enough. On the highest level of the pagoda, there were three flags. The one of the left was green, and had a something of symbol that Nero didn't recognize, and same went for the one on the right, which was blue. The center flag was orange, and had a white symbol on it that looked similar to the two gold, fairy-like figures on the buildings sign. It was then that Nero took notice of something; that symbol that was on the orange flag, was also on Natsu's right shoulder, in red, and the back of Lucy's right hand, in pink. Did these people get tattoes of the guild logo, or was it something else.

Forgetting about his guides, Nero felt himself get caught up in his comparison of the architecture here and that of Fortuna. So much so that he failed to notice Natsu, Lucy, and Happy beginning to make their way inside.

Following behind, Nero caught up to them and entered the hall at the same time as the three, however, he might have regretted doing so. Almost immediately, he was deafened by the noise that was ensuing within the building. It looked more like a beer hall in Nero's point of view, and was filled with dozens of people laughing, shouting, and drinking. It appeared like everyone present was having a great time.

"WE MADE IT BACK ALIVE!" Natsu exclaimed.

"You make it a habit of always shouting everything?" Commented Nero, however, his comment went unheard, which was no surprise considering the level of noise resounding in the Hall. He was still taken aback by his loud and abrupt declaration. Despite that, a few people turned to see him, waved, and resumed whatever it was they were doing.

Suddenly, the group heard a sweet-sounding, feminine voice calling out to them.

"Welcome back, you three! I hope the job went well."

Turning to the source of the call, Nero's attention locked on to a young girl with flowing, white hair, with the bans pinned up above her forehead. She was a little on the short side, though not by much. She wore a red, sleeveless dress, and had impressive...assets. Nero, despite hanging around Dante, was still somewhat of a gentleman, contrary to some rumors that used to go around Fortuna, and focused on her face, which was also noticeably pretty.

Natsu placed his hands behind his head, and grins widely. "You bet it did! Went off without a hitch!"

"Aye!" Happy added, while raising up his paw.

"Well, that's certainly good news!" the white-haired girl smiled.

"Yeah, unless you call almost getting killed 'without a hitch'..." deadpanned Lucy.

The white-haired girl turned to Lucy, surprised. "Goodness me, that doesn't sound good at all. What happened?"

"Oh, you know...the usual," Lucy replied.

"Well, it looks like you made it back home safe and sound."

It was after speaking with the three did the white-haired beauty took notice of Nero standing back, scratching his nose with his left hand, a little away from the group.

"And who might this be?" the white-haired girl asked, indicating to demon hunter.

"This is Nero!" Introduced the Dragon Slayer, placing an arm across Nero's shoulder with a smirk, "We found him while we were out on our job!"

"Say it for what it is, Natsu," cut in Nero, as he leveled a pointed look at him, "I _found_ you, three."

Natsu removed his arm from Nero's shoulder, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Details, man. Anyway, he helped us out with the job, but then he said he doesn't have anywhere to go. Says he doesn't know where his home is."

"I didn't say that," interjected the hunter, "I said I never really had a home."

"Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that," the white-haired beauty said honestly, and then smiled, "Well, I do hope you can find your way home soon," She paused to extend her right hand, "My name's Mirajane. It's nice to meet you, Nero!"

"Right," he replied carefully, as he pushed his hand further into his pocket, however, out of politeness he extended his left hand. Mira looked at him for a moment, slightly confused, people don't normally shake with the left hands, "hand got banged up before I ran into these three."

"Say no more," nodded the girl as she switched hands and shook the hunter's.

It was then that Lucy's eyes widened slightly, remembering why they had brought Nero with them in the first place.

"Oh! Hey, Mira, do you know where the Master is right now?" Lucy inquired.

Mirajane turned to Lucy, and replied, "Oh, he should be here soon. He's out doing some paperwork for the Magic Council."

"Oh, okay..."

Lucy then shifted her gaze out into the crowd of people in the guild hall, and seemingly spotted someone in particular.

"Hey, there's Gray!" the Celestial wizard turned to Nero, "Oh, Nero, Gray is one of the other members of our team that we told you about on the train."

Lucy then waved to the person she had spotted across the room, with that person seeing her, standing from his table, and walking over to the group. When he arrived, Nero got a better look at just who Gray was. A young man, likely the same age as Natsu, if only slightly older, with spiked black hair. He had a pair of black pants, along with a long white coat that had a blue trimming.

Gray placed his hands in his pockets. "Hey, Lucy. Glad you guys made it back. How'd the job go with only flame-for-brains here as company?"

"It went about as well as you'd expect. Had some hiccups, but everything worked out in the end. Uh...Gray…where are your clothes?" Lucy groaned.

Nero blinked in surprise because without a doubt Gray had stripped off all of his clothes and left them in a pile on the floor. He gave Lucy a confused expression before looking down at himself, realizing she was right.

"CRAP!" the raven-haired wizard panicked.

 _'How the hell did he not realize he stripped down? And how the hell did he do it that fast?'_ Wondered Nero, confusion on his face as well as a little weirded out.

Before Lucy could answer, another unknown voice began to speak from the right of the demon hunter, "Yup, that's Gray for yah."

Turning to the source, the hunter's vision fixed onto a woman with long, slightly-curly brunette hair. She was wearing a pair of brown, knee-length pants held up by a pink belt, and a cyan-colored bikini top. She also had a dark blue armband on either of her upper arms, near her shoulders. She had that same marking that Natsu and Lucy had on the left side of her stomach. Was that something everyone in the guild had or was it just that team?

"This a regular thing for him?" Asked Nero as he folded his arms and jerked his head to Gray.

The brunette woman nodded, "Pretty much. Can't call it a day without him strippin' down to his skivvies."

"If he does that often, he's gotta a problem," commented the hunter.

"Ah, you get used to it. By the way, the name's Cana Alberona. Nice to meet yah."

"Nero," Replied the white-haired hybrid demon, "So, what's-"

However, Nero never got the chance to finish his sentence because just as he started, Cana whipped out a considerably large barrel, which was about half her height, hefted it up, and started chugging away. Its contents were likely alcoholic from what he could smell. Nero could only watch in shock, though most of it was contained as only his eyebrows lifted up slightly.

 _'Everyone here is insane,'_ thought Nero as he looked around, _'Though, not half bad...'_

"So, this little dude helped you out?" the white-haired behemoth said, "Doesn't look like much of a man to me."

Nero narrowed his eyes, being called a Kid was something he really didn't enjoy, but being assume weak was something that really irked him. However, before he could make a reply, Mirajane walked over to the two of them, still wearing her cheerful smile, "Nero, this is my younger brother, Elfman." Mira turned to her brother, "Elfman, Lucy just told me that Nero here saved her life on her and Natsu's last job."

Elfman's tough guy exterior seemed to soften slightly when his sister told him this; however, he retained a majority of his gruff demeanor as he returned his attention back to Nero.

"He did, huh? Hey, is that true?" Elfman demanded.

"Only did what was the right thing," Replied Nero, unfolding his arms.

"A real man would be proud of his accomplishments!" Elfman declared loudly, catching him off guard. Since he didn't know Elfman, he didn't expect him to suddenly raise his right fist and clenched it, though never once taking his eyes off the blue coat wearing hybrid demon.

"Never said I didn't," Replied Nero sharply, "I just don't need to broadcast it."

"What's this I hear about someone saving Lucy's life?" someone asked.

Turning to the source of the voice, Nero and the gathered wizards all faced the main entrance, where an extremely short-statured, elderly man. He had wrinkled skin and thinning, white hair, with a matching white mustache; not like Elfman or Mirajane's though, since his hair was most likely that way due to his old age. He wore an orange jacket with light blue cuffs, with a white t-shirt underneath that bore what Nero could only assume was the Fairy Tail guild's emblem, since everyone in the room seemed to have it. He also wore orange shorts, along with brown, curled shoes. On his head, he wore an orange and light blue, striped cap that resembled that of a jester. In his left hand was a wooden cane, which had a pink smiley-face at the top of it; though it didn't seem like he needed it to help himself stand.

"Welcome back, Master!" Mirajane greeted with a smile.

Nero only cocked an eyebrow as he glanced between Mirajane and the elderly man. Did he mishear her or did she call that guy 'Master'? He really didn't look like much.

However, from what Happy told Nero, then that would mean that this little old man was in charge around here. If he was being honest, he was expecting a little more than a short old man.

"So, how did the paperwork go?" Mira questioned.

"Ah, forget about those Council blowhards," The old man dismissed, "As things are now, they're gonna drive me to an early grave long before any of you kids do, that's for sure."

It was then that Makarov took notice of the new arrival to the guild. It wasn't more than a second before Mirajane sidled over to the two of them.

"Master, this is Nero. From what Lucy told me, it would seem Nero actually saved her life while she and Natsu were out on a job today."

The elderly man turned from Mira to the demon hunter, and gave the latter a long stare, as if he were trying to get a read on him. Nero only gave a neutral look to the man. After a minute of staring intently at him, he spoke.

"Well, in that case, my name is Makarov, and I am the Master of this guild," said Makarov as extended his right hand, "If it's true that you saved the life of one of my children, then I can't possibly thank you enough. You have my deepest gratitude."

Nero arched an eyebrow, not expecting such a fast response, or least, faster than Elfman. He didn't expect the elderly man, now known as Makarov, to open up to him that quickly. However, Nero still wasn't sure about the man, as he held his right hand back. Makarov noticed that his hand was in a glove so he only assumed it was an injury, "My apologies, I didn't see you hand was injured."

"You're fine, and what I did was no problem," Replied Nero as he stepped off to the side, "just doing what was right." However, he then picked up on something the elderly man just said. He referred to Lucy as one of his children, so does that mean they're related? "So, Lucy's your kid?"

Makarov chuckled, "I consider every member of this guild my family, young man. Whether we're related by blood or not, that's what we are; a rowdy, crazy family, but a family nonetheless."

"Obviously," commented Nero.

Natsu, Happy, and Lucy all approached Nero, Makarov, and Mirajane. Natsu then interjected, "Speakin' of helping out..."

"Yeah," Lucy continued, picking up for her friend, "Master, when we were out on our job, Nero said he doesn't have any place to go."

"He said he doesn't know where is home is," Happy finished, however, despite Nero's own inference, he couldn't really deny he had no clue as to how he was getting home.

"Is that right?" Asked Makarov, looking at Nero for confirmation.

The hunter only nodded, "More or less."

Natsu crossed his arms, and retorted, "'More or less'?! Come on, man! You didn't even know what a guild was before today!"

"Yeah," chimed Happy, "wherever you're from must be super far!"

"You're not wrong," muttered Nero to himself, knowing they weren't wrong, but not exactly right either.

"So, Master, the reason we brought Nero with us is because, well... We thought maybe he could-"

Lucy didn't even get to finish her statement before Makarov held his hand up to her, signaling her to stop.

"Say no more," Makarov turned to Nero, "So, you need a place to stay, am I correct?"

Nero folded his arms as he thought for a moment. Knowing that Natsu and Lucy had offered him a place to stay, but he was still weighing his options in his mind. He didn't know if he wanted to get too comfortable, and he still wasn't sure if he was really okay with these people going out of their way to put him up. After all, this building seemed cram-packed already. Plus, he didn't really see them as his kinda crowd of people, not that he had a 'crowd' to begin with.

But from the tone Makarov spoke in, he really was grateful for Nero saving one of his 'children,' and wanted to repay him somehow. And it's not like Dante or anyone was going to show up, if at all, anytime soon, and with his one ticket home that he knew of now in a thousand pieces, his options were limited. He needed a place to eat, sleep, etc. he doubted he'd get another chance like this, so it didn't take much thought to make a decision.

"Yeah...," said Nero finally, not used to asking for things, "I need a place to stay..."

Makarov smiled, "Then it's settled," The Fairy Tail master turned to Mirajane, "Mira! Would you mind setting up one of the storage rooms for Nero, here?"

"Not at all, Master!" Mira beamed.

With that, Mirajane quickly turned around and headed for a door to the back of the large, open guild hall. Now that that was out of the way, Makarov had one question for Nero.

"Now, I have no problem with letting you stay here until you can find your way home. After all, it's the least I can do for you in return for what you've done. However, I would like to know wherever it is you're from," Makarov proclaimed, "I have no doubt that you're a kindhearted young man, but in order to ward off the suspicion of others... I don't want them thinking that we're harboring some kind of spy from another country or anything of the sort."

 _Shit_

Nero's eyes narrowed slightly, he shoulda figured something like this would turn up. However, he did tell the others that his home was very isolated, which it was, so it was a half lie. But still, would they believe him? He didn't know the names of any cities, towns, or countries in this magic-filled universe, save for the few that Lucy mentioned before, and even if he did, he would have to explain everything later which wouldn't exactly win him kindness points that he lied to them. But a small part of him wouldn't exactly feel right, lying to them, not after they showed him, a complete stranger, so much kindness. He would tell them the truth, or at least a little about him. He didn't know how they would react to the fact that he was part demon, and would lay off until he knew them better and figure out more before dropping that bomb.

So with that, he was going to tell them. But his demon heritage was off the table. And learning a little more about them, there was a good chance they might actually believe, if from what he could tell about them.

"Alright," conceded Nero as he looked at the gathered wizards, "I'll tell yah where I'm from. But you might wanna sit down."

Per Makarov's instructions, most of the present wizards pulled up seats from various benches and stools throughout the guild hall, while others simply stood. All of them gathered around one person in particular: Nero.

Taking a seat turning around to face them, the hunter began by introducing them to the idea of other worlds. The idea of other worlds was a bit easy to explain as it was covered in his education at Fortuna when he was learning to become a Holy Knight when he was still in the order, so explaining wasn't exactly that hard. His explanation, though a bit more crude, was enough for most of the wizards, such as Lucy who's Celestial Spirits were actually from another world, and Makarov, who was simply intelligent enough to grasp it, and to realize the idea isn't as far-fetched as one might think. Other wizards, however, like Natsu and Elfman, needed to have it simplified for them.

So, when the moment of truth came to tell them, Nero didn't beat around the bush, he told them bluntly that he was from another world. It was no surprise to Nero when, practically, every jaw in the building gravitated to the floor instantly. Though, it did make some sense to Lucy and Happy, seeing as he didn't know anything about the various towns in Fiore, about guilds, or anything about the magical world. Why would he if he was from another world entirely?

Nero went on to explain that in his world, there were some who knew about a different one in particular, the Demon World. Explaining how in his world, there was magic, but there was also much better technology, but the real surprise was when Nero told them he was a demon hunter. He went into explain a few other things, like a little about his home Fortuna, his uncle, and a little about some demons in his world.

He spoke about what he used as a demon hunter, touching lightly about his above average abilities, weaponry and a little magic he used, however he kept the fact that he was part demon well and truly secret. Judging from their reactions, demons hunter's were rare in this world. Not exactly different from his world actually.

Nero finished his story by explaining how on one job he had been hired ended up bringing him here in an accident. Everything from the Scarecrows, the artifacts, to the forest near Oshibana, and then to his encounter with Natsu, Lucy, and Happy.

Silence filled the hall for about a solid minute. It went without saying the wizards of Fairy Tail were pretty surprised by what Nero just told them.

None of them really knew what to say or think, until Cana finally broke the silence, "Man, he wasn't kiddin'. That was a long story..." Cana noted.

"You poor thing," Mira sympathized.

"Wow, Nero... I had no idea you were from another world like Lucy's spirits," Happy added.

As Nero had been explaining, Makarov had been sitting on a bar stool next in the front of the group, listening intently, his eyes closed and head lowered for most of it.

"So, If you wouldn't mind telling us, Nero," interjected Makarov, "You say you don't use magic often. If that is true, then wouldn't it have been extremely difficult for you to deal with demons as you stated."

"Yeah," agreed Elfman, looking still skeptical, "If you don't use magic, then what do you use?"

"When I said I don't use magic, I meant for the most part," corrected Nero, knowing that they might have taken what he said differently then what was implied, "in my world, demons are weak to steel, which is why I have Red Queen and Blue Rose. I use magic to help me, it isn't a first choice for me."

Suddenly, a petite young girl spoke up. She had wavy, somewhat wild blue hair, with her bangs held up by a patterned, orange bandanna. She wore a short, blue vest that left her midriff exposed, with a yellow bikini top underneath it. She also wore white, knee-length shorts, held up by a brown belt. This was Levy McGarden.

"So what kind of magic do you use?" Asked Levy, a little curious.

Instead of answering, Nero lifted his right hand and channeled some power into Devil Bringer, not enough to cause his arm to light up completely, but enough to summon Spectral Bringer. Next to his right, a spectral arm appeared, causing a few wizards to look at it in surprise.

"That's pretty cool," commented Gray, seeing the ethereal limb suspended in the air. When Nero moved his hand around, the Spectral Bringer followed suit.

Just then, a man stepped forward to speak up. His most notable trait physically was his brown, fluffy, ostentatious pompadour hair. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, and had a pipe in his mouth. He wore a loose, light green shirt, which was decorated with many motifs of dark green, stylized flowers, each with five petals. He also wore a pair of brown pants, cut off just below his knees. This was Wakaba Mine, "And how long have you been able to do that?"

"When I was ten, about ten years ago," answered Nero, keeping the information of how he got Devil Bringer a secret. He dismissed Spectral Bringer and shoved his arm back into his pocket, "I've been a demon hunter for the last two."

With that said, Elfman walked over to Nero with a smile on his face, and patted him on the shoulder. His impressive strength, nearly knocking Nero off the stool and onto the ground, "Wow! Now that's what I call manly!" he proclaimed.

"Thanks," groaned Nero as he rolled his shoulder, "but next time, give a guy a warning."

"So, Nero," interrupted Gray, "how good are you with that sword since it's clear you don't have it just for show."

"Clearly," responded Nero dryly, "I've had Red Queen for about six years. Been training with her ever since. Back home, when I was in Fortuna, I was undefeated in training ever since I started."

"When was that?"

"I think about six, maybe seven," Replied Nero taking a moment to think, "haven't been beaten in training since."

Gray's eyes widened as he whispered to himself, "No way... _13 to 14 years undefeated..._ "

The onyx-haired teen couldn't really think of anything else to say. It was crazy. If Nero was even half true, that would mean that he was probably one of the strongest people in the entire building, and probably, even better swordsman than Erza.

Suddenly, Natsu barged through the crowd of wizards with an excited look on his face, and a fire in his eyes, similar to the one Nero saw in them when the Dragon Slayer was fighting bandits back in the forest.

"Alright, Nero! You and me! Right now!" Natsu called out, "Show me what yah got!"

"You want something?" Asked Nero, already guessing what Natsu wanted if his expression was anything to go by. As for the wizards, they simply groaned or sighed as they face-palmed in exasperation.

"Oh, come on, man! Isn't it obvious?!" Natsu clenched his fist, "We gotta fight to see who's the strongest! Duh!"

"Geez, give it a rest, kid. You already got your butt handed to yah once this week," Wakaba stated, "That ain't enough for you?"

Natsu turned to Wakaba, annoyed. "Watch it, old-timer! I didn't lose! The fight got called off because those stuck-up Council jerks interrupted it! I totally would've won if theyhadn't butted in!"

"That's enough, Natsu!" Makarov ordered, "I won't allow you to fight a guest of this guild!"

Makarov's order seemingly fell on deaf ears as Natsu returned his attention, and excitement, back to Nero who was reclining into his stool. He wouldn't lie, he was curious to see how good Natsu was in a fight. And to be honest, he was getting a little bored. He then turned his gaze to the gathering of wizards behind Natsu, all of whom had resigned expressions on their faces.

"The odds of him leaving me alone are basically none, right?" Asked Nero, his tone level and blank.

The wizards all simultaneously shook their heads, thus confirming Nero's guess, leading the hunter to snort in amusement.

"Just do it. The sooner you fight him, the sooner I can drink in peace." Cana said.

"Far be it from me to keep a woman from her drink," commented Nero as he stood up from his stool, "but it's a fight you want Natsu, then what are standing around here for? Let's take this outside.

Natsu's grin grew wider than ever in anticipation. He was clearly about to burst from excitement any moment.

"Are you sure about this, Nero?" Asked Makarov, "You know you don't have to..."

"I know, and I wanna know just how strong this kid is," cut in Nero, "besides, things were getting a little dull anyway. If Natsu wants a fight, then I'll give him one."

"Aright, man. You got yourself a deal! Let's do it!" Natsu shouted eagerly.

Most of the other wizards gathered in the guild hall began to talk amongst each other, clearly excited about this development. They'd just heard so many amazing things about what Nero can do, and now they would get to see him face off against Fairy Tail's very own Fire Dragon Slayer, Natsu Dragneel!

"Can't we ever just have a normal day around here?" Lucy sighed.

 ** _To be continued..._**

 ** _Next chapter: Natsu V. Nero._**


	3. Chapter 3 Nero VS Natsu

_**The Big fight: Nero Vs. Natsu, who will reign supreme. In my personal opinion, I think Nero might win, and not because he is the main character, it's just that he has slightly better training and uses outside the box form of attacks. Plus, he's a little more careful with how he goes about fights unlike Natsu who is basically restricted to pummeling anything and everything with his fists or burning it with his fire.**_

 _ **Nero is a bit smarter in terms of combat strategy, but he is still a hot head, and incredibly brutal in a fight. Which Natsu is gonna end up learning the hard way. There might be some drama in this and a little swearing, but since when is there not any swearing in DMC or Fairy Tail? Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing, not a thing.**_

* * *

 ** _Devil Tail_**

 ** _Chapter 3: Nero VS. Natsu_**

News spread like wildfire troughout Fairy Tail guild.

Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander of Fairy Tail Guild was about to face off against a Demon Hunter from another world, Nero. Who would be the victor, and who would be the loser, it was anyone's guess. However, the wizards of Fairy Tail knew off the capabilities of Natsu, and some were betting on him, while others, they were leaning towards Nero because they didn't know the full extent of his abilities and that gave him an advantage. Either way, there was a fight brewing and both combatants were eager for a piece of their opponent.

The two were to fight just outside of the Guild Hall where it's front would serve as an arena for the brawl. Every single wizard that was within the hall had gathered outside to witness the fight, but kept a fair distance from where they would actually be fighting, per Nero's request. He didn't need anyone getting caught in the crossfire. However, it didn't impede his love for a fight. And speaking of the demon hunter, the silver haired man was making his way to his place in the arena, reloading Blue Rose with new rounds, of Thorn's as he called them.

"You sure you want this, Natsu?" Smirked Nero as he snapped the cylinder to the magnum pistol shut and twirled it on his finger before bolstering it, "no shame in backing out now."

Nero would by lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to this fight. Training with Dante could get a little dull after a while, and losing was not something Nero was really fond of. But even though he lost some matches with the old man, he won some of his own. Spars with Trish were pretty close to being a tie for the young adult, but still was pretty good. So fighting someone completely new was something Nero looked forward to. And he had no intention of doing Natsu any favors in this fight.

"Are you kidding?! This is awesome!" Natsu raised his head and exhaled a plume of fire, "I'M FIRED UP!"

"Well if you wanna fight," retorted Nero as he grabbed Red Queen's handle and brought out the mighty sword. He then planted the tip of the blade in the ground, "then come on."

It was then that Makarov stepped up, in between the two combatants, and raised his hand into the air.

"Let the match...begin!" he swiped his hand through the air.

Makarov quickly retook his spot in the crowd, while the two fighters prepared themselves. Natsu engulfed his hands in flames, never once losing his wide, excited grin. Meanwhile, Nero just smirked and gripped the handle of Red Queen tighter, his hand tightly gripping the throttle. With his grip, Nero revved the Exceed System within the sword, flames burst out of the exhaust as flammable liquid coated the blade.

The surrounding wizards all gaped at what they just heard. Nero's sword had an engine inside it!? In the crowd, Elfman just grinned widely while Lucy was still slightly surprised by the sound of the Exceed System.

"I still can't believe his sword has an engine in it," Commented the blonde wizard, "then again, he did say that his world had more technology. But what does it do for him?"

Levy, who was standing next to Lucy and had heard her question, was also curious as to what purpose the throttle held.

"I dunno. Maybe it gives him a boost or something in his swings."

"Who cares!?" Cut in Elfman, "Now that's a man's sword!"

Natsu was the only person present who remained unaffected by the roar of the Exceed System. In fact, if anything, it only made him even more excited. The Dragon Slayer then leapt forward, his flames intensifying as he did so.

 **"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"**

Natsu reared back his flaming fist, and swung right at Nero's face. A second later Natsu's attack erupted into a conflagration of fire and smoke, making it impossible for anyone, himself included, to see the result. The fire-breather landed on the ground, and leapt back and out of the smoke, waiting for it to clear so he could see his handiwork.

After a few moments, the smoke cleared, and everyone was shocked by what they saw. Nero was completely gone!

"Looking for someone?" Said a familiar voice, causing the salamander to spin around in surprise to see Nero standing behind him about ten feet away, fifteen from where he originally stood. Red Queen was rested casually on his shoulder while his right hand rested on his hip, his entire stance suggested he had been there the whole time, "yelling your attack is not a good way to get the jump on them. Plus, I've seen candles burn faster than you move."

WHAT'D YOU SAY?!" Natsu yelled, clearly angered by that remark.

"But I think I've made my point," Continued Nero like he hadn't been interrupted, "Now. Let's Rock!"

With that, Nero charged right towards Natsu, Red Queen was held out as the hunter sprinted right towards the Dragon Slayer, his coat billowing in the breeze as Nero closed the distance almost immediately.

Natsu couldn't react fast enough of Nero suddenly jumped off the ground and aimed both his heels right at his face, drop kicking the Dragon Slayer with his Rainbow attack, knocking Natsu back several feet. He was sent rolling across the ground, but managed to catch himself and land in a crouching position. A second later, the pink-haired wizard rubbed his face in slight pain, much to everyone's surprise.

Nero was incredibly strong, no surprise there, but he was also incredibly fast if dodging Natsu at the last possible second was any indication. The testament to the strength was clear if he was able to injure Natsu enough for him to actually look pained. That being said, the hotheaded wizard wasn't anywhere near done yet.

Natsu quickly picked himself up, and began to puff out his cheeks, just like Nero had seen him do earlier, in the forest against the thugs.

 **"Fire Dragon Roar!"**

In a move to dodge Natsu's fire, Nero dove to the right in a Side Roll, before dashing forward. Gripping Red Queen, Nero swung horizontally at Natsu, but the Dragon Slayer reacted just quick enough to duck under his Streak, however, he wasn't fast enough to dodge the next attack which was a High Roller that collided with Natsu's back sending him flying up into the air, hunter close behind

Nero made sure not to slice open the pink haired mages back, and to do this, he channeled a small amount of Devil Bringer's power into Red Queen to have the power shield the edge of the sword. This engulfed the sword in a light blue hue.

Once in the air, Nero continued to shield his sword, however, he wasn't done with Natsu, not by a longshot. Suspended in the air, the Dragon Slayer was open to the hunter who swung Red Queen right at his midsection, followed by an upward slash then a sudden upward spin.

Having completed the Roulette Spin, Nero shot out Devil Bringer, his arm glowing as he swung up and caught Natsu in Spectral Bringer. Without warning, he threw him right towards the ground where the Dragon Slayer smashed into the ground, cracking it from the force of the Buster. This had the secondary effect of causing several wizards within the crowd to wince in pain.

Nero landed back down on the ground, about ten feet from where Natsu collided with the ground. A part of him knew that he might be taking this a little too far, but after seeing the pink-haired wizard in action and seeing him take his first blow, that part didn't feel as bad. Plus, he realized that Natsu could take far more punishment than any human in his world reasonably could. But even so, after a pummeling like that, he expected Natsu to be out of the fight.

But he was actually surprised to see that the salamander was pulling himself back to his feet, albeit, struggling to do so. However, not only was he able to rise, but he turned to face Nero, his telltale grin still plastered on his face from the start of the fight. This was certainly a shocker to the hunter. The guy had just been smashed into the ground to leave a shallow crater, but he still wanted more.

Without a word, Natsu exhaled another powerful torrent of fire at Nero, the Demon Hunter dodged the attack by Table Hopping to the right, his speed making him a blur to the naked eye. However, the Dragon Slayer had no problem following Nero with a roar of more fire, resulting in him sprinting further to the right before jumping completely over the flames.

When Natsu's flames died down, Nero halted and began thinking of how he was going to handle the Dragon Slayer.

Natsu may not be the brightest person he had met in this world, but he seemed to have a firm grasp on fighting. Natsu now knew that he couldn't out-muscle Nero so he had to keep his distance, however, he might have forgotten something about the hunter.

Sheathing Red Queen, Nero reached for his belt and pulled out Blue Rose.

Back in the crowd, everyone was slightly surprised to see Nero switching out his sword for a revolver.

"He's got a gun?" said Gray in surprise.

"Didn't think he had one," added Elfman.

"Remember when he talked about Blue Rose?" reminded Lucy, "This is Blue Rose. He showed it to us when we were coming back from a job. But I had no idea that he was such a good swordsman! He might be as good as Ezra!"

Gray's face paled when Lucy said the name "Erza." Though she referred to the final member of their team offhandedly, Gray couldn't help but think...if Nero was even close to being as strong as Erza...

"Being able to use multiple weapons is something very difficult to master, something Re-Quip Wizards sometimes struggle to do," Mira stated, though he tone held a surprising amount of seriousness, "But how good he is with it, has yet to be seen."

Natsu wasn't entirely surprised to see the revolver, and if he was, he hid it surprisingly well. The Dragon Slayer then puffed out his cheeks and exhaled yet another stream of fire at Nero.

 **"Fire Dragon ROAR!"**

Nero held his ground for a moment, but then suddenly leaped up into the air as the torrent of fire closed in on him. Natsu followed the hunter into the air, the stream catching up to the hunter, however, to everyone's surprise, a purple glowing symbol appeared below Nero's feet, seemingly forming a solid surface. Nero then launched further into the air with his Air Hike and away from Natsu.

Whilst the silver-haired young adult was in the air, he took aim at Natsu and fired. Several bullets fired out as Blue Rose discharged its ammo at the Dragon Slayer, forcing Natsu to roll to the side away from the bullets. Firing several more shots, one set of Thorns struck Natsu in the shoulder, causing the pink haired wizard to grab his arm in pain. However, when he removed his hand, he saw that he wasn't bleeding.

"Bullets are only good against demons," said Nero aloud when he landed back on the ground, drawing the attention of everyone, "Won't kill a human, but it'll hurt like a bitch."

"Good to know," retorted Natsu as he suddenly blasted another torrent of flames at Nero.

The hunter dove to the side and as he did so, fired two more shots at Natsu. The slayer dodged both bullets, if only just and fired another huge torrent of fire. Nero didn't have any time to prepare himself so he side rolled just far enough away from where the blast impacted with the ground. A large cloud of smoke and dust was sent into the air as a result.

For a moment, nothing happened, until suddenly, Nero lunged out of the cloud of smoke and fire and rushed right towards Natsu. The Demon Hunter moved too fast for the Slayer to move and felt a powerful punch connect with his jaw, sending Natsu sliding back a few feet. Trying to press his advantage, Nero moved in and slugged Natsu right in the stomach, which he then tried to follow up with a roundhouse kick. However, the Dragon Salyer was able to dodge it and spin around, his leg engulfing in flames.

 **"Fire Dragon Talon!"**

Nero was taken off-guard by how fast Natsu was able to recover from the punch to jaw and stomach, so much so that he barely had time to bring up his left arm and block the firey attack. If he hadn't the blow would've smashed right into his head. But even though he blocked it, Nero was still sent sliding back across the ground by a few feet.

"Quick on the draw, aren't yah?" commented Nero as he steadied himself.

Natsu grinned as he wiped his mouth. "Haha! Thanks for the compliment! You're not doin' too bad yourself!"

Both Hunter and Slayer stared each other down for a moment. In that time, Nero knew that he had to think outside the box in order to beat Natsu, and he needed to be a little more aggressive if he wanted to win. Snatch could easily take him by surprise and gave Nero an advantage if he brought him in close. Holstering Blue Rose, Nero barely had any time to dodge an incoming blazing set of fists as Natsu lunged at him. Reacting quick enough, Nero flipped over Natsu, landing on his back then leaping off in a rapid Enemy Step. This had the effect of knocking Natsu down onto his stomach as Nero flipped around in the air.

With his back to him, and spitting out a mouthful of dirt, Natsu didn't see as Nero swung out Devil Bringer and Spectral Bringer shooting out from his hand. The gathered wizard watched in surprise as the large spectral limb grabbed Natsu by the back and yanked him right towards Nero.

When the Dragon Slayer came into range, Nero quickly unsheathed Red Queen and began his attack. Rechanneling energy back into the blade, Nero swung the mighty sword at Natsu, bringing it down and colliding with his chest. Pressing forward, Nero continued his barrage of attacks, this time performing a double upward slash followed by a triple horizontal cut. Every single attack made contact and sent Natsu tumbling onto his back.

However, Nero was taken by surprise when Natsu began to spin on his back, using his hands to do so. The Fire Dragon Slayer's feet then began to ignite in flames, which grew more intense as he continued to spin. Within a few seconds, Natsu was shooting torrents of fire out of his feet; much to Nero's bewilderment.

"Looks like you're full of surprises," commented Nero as he jumped back to avoid a torrent of fire coming right at him, out from the left.

The demon hybrid sheathed Red Queen before simply stepped to the side to avoid it before jumping over another torrent, this one much lower. Nero dodged, Side Rolled, and Table Hopped out of the way of the flames as they came. He kept this up for a while until he got tired of dodge the fireball.

Jumping over one torrent of flames, Nero Side Rolled underneath another till he got in range. Jumping high into the air, Nero Air Hiked up even higher so that he was right above Natsu. He thrust out Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer shooting out and caught hold of Natsu's face. However, everyone was surprised to see Nero be the one pulled in as the Demon Hunter rocketed right towards.

Natsu tried to yell something, but couldn't due to Spectral Bringer covering his face and mouth. With his face covered, he didn't see Nero coming right in for a propelled Rainbow dropkick that smashed Natsu's head right into the ground. The impact left cracks in the ground as the Demon Hunter leaped off, but only so that he could bring Natsu to him as he used Spectral Bringer again and Snatched Natsu right off the ground.

Bringing him into the air, Nero used his Buster and swung Natsu around in the air. Swinging him around twice before hurling him away with all the strength he could muster. As a result, Natsu smashed into the ground about as hard as before and casting a large cloud of dust.

Nero landed back on the ground, looking at where Natsu landed. For a moment, he thought he had the Dragon Slayer beat, however, that wasn't so when he heard an enraged yell come from the smoke. A second later, a massive torrent of fire shot out from the smoke, engulfing Nero in flames. The Demon hunter could only hold up his arms in front of his face to block the flames.

Due to the power of the flames, Nero was pushed back under the torrent. After another moment or so, Natsu's breath attack ended, which sent Nero flying across the ring and onto his back but rolled to his feet and used Devil Bringer to steady himself. As the flames subsided, the evidence of what happened was clear to all. Nero looked pretty messed up, numerous scorch marks covered his coat, small burns were left on his face while his left hand had several burns.

"Hey, watch the coat, man!" barked Nero as he stood right up like he hadn't been hit in the first place and inspected his coat to see that it was scorched and a little on fire. However, everyone wasn't looking at the coat. They were instead looking at the burns that littered Nero's face and saw that they were steadily and rapidly healing while the demon hunter shook his coat to put out the flames, "I've only got the one!"

"But how?" Natsu's eyes widened.

"I forgot to mention I've got this thing called a 'Healing Factor'," informed Nero as a devious smile formed, "means I can heal from a bunch of things."

"Magic? Like that glyph you used earlier to jump out of the way?" asked the Dragon Slayer.

"Nu-uh. Completely natural," remarked Nero as he unsheathed Red Queen, "but I could use a little breather, but I'm not throwing in the towel. I just need you to-" Nero sudden swung out his arm and Spectral Bringer shot out and caught Natsu. He brought the Dragon Slayer in close with Snatch before swinging up and Spectral Bringer appeared again this time, much larger as the fingers of the spectral appendage wrapped around Natsu's torso and held him about six feet in the air, "hang around."

Nero then lowered Devil Bringer and let Natsu hang around in his hold for a moment. That was definitely a shocker for the wizards watching, who only witnessed Nero hold the spectral appendage for only a few seconds, however, it looked like he could hold it for much longer. This surprised Levy and another man as well, who was also slim, and was of average height. He had orange hair, which was kept jutting backward at the sides of his head. He had a bit of a sharp face overall, along with a prominently flat and defined nose that pointed downwards. He wore an open, light brown coat with white fur trimmings on its edges and sleeves, the latter of which reached down just below his elbows. Underneath this coat was a high-collared, light purple shirt, with its collar mostly left open. He also wore dark, baggy pants, the legs of which were tucked inside dark-colored boots. The most distinctive part of his attire was the fancy, extremely high hat that matched his coat, with large brim and fur trimmings over its entire length, at regular intervals, in addition to a large, furry ball at the top of it.

This man went by the nickname, "Jet." His magic allows him to run at exceptionally fast speeds.

"This guy is full of surprises," commented Jet, "But as long as he isn't faster than _me_ , I think we're good."

"Actually, I think he might," retorted Levy as he turned to Jet, "You saw how he was able to completely dodge Natsu's attack and reappear behind him like he had been there the whole time."

Hearing Levy say that made Jet feel a little smaller...

Back in the fight, Natsu was still struggling against the powerful grip of the Hold, but he had yet to make any progress.

"You about ready to throw in the towel, yet?" inquired Nero as he glanced up at Natsu, resting Red Queen on his shoulder and Devil Bringer on his hip.

"Yeah right! You think I can't bust outta this?!" Natsu yelled.

Just then, Natsu's entire body was consumed in powerful flames as he yelled continuously. With each passing second, the flames around him grew hotter and brighter. Eventually, Spectral Bringer vanished, if it was by Nero's doing or Natsu's, it wasn't clear. However, what was clear was that the Dragon Slayer was free and thus, allowed to touch the ground once more. Looking up, Natsu looked at Nero with a wide grin on his face yet again.

Not wasting any time, he ignited his right fist in fire and lunged right at Nero once more.

 **"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"**

To the confusion of the wizard's gathered, Nero didn't even try to move, not even a little to dodge Natsu's incoming attack. However, when he did move, Natsu's fist collided with the open palm of Devil Bringer and was stopped right then and there.

A dozen wizards, those who knew Natsu well enough to know that any punch from the Dragon Slayer was nearly a guarantee knockback, gasped in shock with how easily Nero stopped Natsu's fist. However, none were more surprised than Natsu who looked right at Nero in the eye with a shocked expression.

"WAH! HOW!?" shouted Natsu in confusion, but that confusion turned into pain as Nero began twisting his hand, forcing the Slayer to grab his wrist.

"Gotta say, you pack a punch," complimented Nero as he held his grip, "but I think its time I step things up a notch.

With that, Nero yanked Natsu right off his feet and then threw him back about fifteen. Landing on the ground, he slid a short distance to see, Nero taking a stance, gripping Red Queen with both hands rather than two. He then began jerking the Rev-Up on Red Queen, increasing the Exceed. After half a minute, the Exceed had been charged up completely. As a result, the entire blade was wreathed in fire. Nero suddenly dashed forward, closing the distance in seconds, all the while Natsu who didn't even flinch at his charging opponent. Instead, a new look adorned his face, this one much different: hunger.

"You know what, you're right! Let's step THINGS UP A NOTCH!"

With that, Natsu managed to duck right under the EX Streak as Nero spun right above, the flames shooting out the vents and around. The Dragon Slayer suddenly reared his head back and took a massive breath. As Nero came to a stop, having missed his strike, he was surprised to see the flames from Red Queen suddenly drift right towards Natsu in multiple small streams. All of the streams led right to Natsu's mouth!

"So you eat fire?" remarked Nero, honestly having not expected that, "Gotta admit, didn't see that coming."

Over in the crowd, Happy couldn't help but smile. There was no way Nero could've known Natsu could do that. There were still some people in _this_ world who didn't know that.

"Bet Nero never saw that one coming," Happy commented, "There's no way he could've known that Natsu can eat fire to replenish his strength and magic energy."

Natsu let out a loud burp, "HOO, boy! You gotta work on your appetizers, man!" He wiped his mouth. "Even so...thanks for the grub, Nero. Now I've got a fire in my belly that's ragin' to get out!" he grinned roguishly.

Natsu then begins to puff out his cheeks once more, much wider than Nero had seen him do before. That could only mean one thing.

 **"Fire...Dragon... _ROOOAAARRR!_ "**

Natsu shot out what was the largest stream of fire Nero had seen the dragon slayer make as of yet. The flames were approaching the Demon Hunter incredibly fast. In a split second decision, knowing that what he was doing was very risky and could raise some questions, he figured the heat of the battle would cover it up. Sheathing Red Queen, Nero pulled back Devil Bringer, however a glow began to shine through his coat sleeve and through his gloves as his claws also began to shine.

Letting out a massive yell, Nero swung the Devil Bringer into the ground in the path of the approaching flames. As a result, when his fist collided with the ground, a massive gust of wind was created from the shockwave, heading right towards the approaching flames. The two opposing force collided and canceled each other out. Elfman's mouth dropped a little, his expression showing a fair amount of shock; before changing into excitement, "OH YEAH! Now that's manly!"

In the ensuing dust cloud, Nero began Revving the Exceed once more.

With the cover of the dust, and Natsu's own shock that his attack had been met and canceled out, he was unprepared for when Nero shoots out through the smoke, his sword wreathed once more in flames. Taken by surprise, Natsu was unable to defend himself as Nero started his EX High Roller.

Getting in close, the demon hunter had Red Queen in a reverse grip and swung right up, flames and the tip of the sword collided with Natsu's chin. Without letting up, Nero pressed forward for another swing, the Exceed boosting the attack and collided once more before finishing with another strike that sent Natsu hurtling back.

Taken off guard by the initial attack, Natsu was back on his feet. He leaped forward, his leg wreathed in flames. This time, Nero charged forward to meet the Dragon Slayer.

 **"Fire Dragon Talon!"**

As Natsu swung his leg, Nero summoned Spectral Bringer and the ethereal flew up to meet the limb. As a result, Spectral Bringer caught Natsu's leg.

"What the-" began Natsu, but was cut off when Nero suddenly yanked him forward, an angered yell erupting from the Demon Hunter.

Nero smashed Natsu into the ground, right on his stomach. However, he still held onto the Dragon Slayer as he flipped him over and smashed him into the ground again with more force, cracking it.

Everyone in the crowd winced at the brutality Nero was performing.

"Jeez, I don't like the guy, but even I think this is a little much," commented Gray.

"For real!" agreed "I mean, yeah their fighting, but still, this is a little much."

"Being a Demon Hunter is a very difficult road," interjected Mira, "More often then not, it takes a lot of strength and will to keep doing. And that means showing little mercy to demons who normally have none."

Back in the fight, Nero had just tossed Natsu away who rolled to his feet to glare at the Demon Hunter.

"Did yah really think a beating was gonna stop me?!" shouted Natsu, "Come on, man! What else yah got?!"

Nero just huffed in aggravation. He was getting tired of this fight. He knew that he could use Yamato, but that required his Trigger, which was off the table for now. He could try a Charged Shot, but that takes time to do. Summoned Swords were still something he was practicing with. What seemed to be his best bet was his Buster, however, how much force needed was debatable. Seemed like if he wanted to end this, he had to stop pulling punches. And he knew exactly what to use to win.

"Alright, Natsu," stated Nero, sheathing Red Queen, "I'll give you a fair chance to forfeit here and now! If I were you, I'd take it. Because what happens next, well, let's just say you'll be feeling it in the morning. _A lot._ "

Natsu simply grinned wider at Nero's threat, excited to see what else Nero might pull out of his bag of tricks. He already forced him to show that Glyph and a few abilities, and he was just curious to find out what else the Demon Hunter could do.

"You gotta be kidding, man! This is great! I'm so fired up I feel like I'm about to explode!" Natsu roared excitedly.

"Fine, what happens next, is one you," answered the demon hunter.

Natsu leaped into the air, above Nero, his arms wreathed in flames. He swung his arms around in circles a few times, before hurling them at the hunter.

 **"Fire Dragon... _Wing Attack!_ "**

Just before the area around Nero erupted in a fiery explosion, the hunter leaped right up into the air, right at Natsu. Nero swung out Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer doing the same as he caught the Dragon Slayer in his grip, however, he didn't stay there for long as Nero hurled Natsu down to the ground where he smashed hard, creating a small crater.

But Nero was just getting started. He threw down Spectral Bringer, which caught Natsu's leg and hoisted him right back up into the air where Nero waited. Once he got him, Nero wrapped both arms around Natsu stomach and threw both of them down in an elevated suplex.

Numerous wizards all winced as Natsu's head collided with the ground, cracks splintering out. However, the pain only started. Nero then flipped over the Dragon Slayer, maintaining his hold on the teen to perform yet another suplex. He performed another suplex, only this time, he leaped right up into the air.

Upon reaching his max height, a Glyph appeared underneath Nero's feet and gave the hunter something push off of. As he did so, the hunter spun himself and Natsu around they became a blur. The Demon hunter let out a powerful yell as he and Natsu smashed into the ground, harder than before. A massive cloud of dust had been formed when Natsu's head collided with the ground.

"What was he doing?!" asked Lucy.

Happy eyes widened in realization. "Oh, I know! He remembered Natsu's motion sickness from the train earlier, and he's used it against him!"

Gray folded his arms and smirked. "So he's doesn't just have power, but he's got a brain to boot. Not bad..."

From the cloud of smoke, Nero emerged, a few scuffs and some scorches but nothing more. However, the same could not be said for Natsu who was pulled out of the crater by the Demon Hunter. The Dragon Slayer was thoroughly dizzy and motion sick as Natsu fell to the ground when Nero let him go, ready to puke his guts out.

"And that's all she wrote," commented Nero.

In the crowd, Makarov had been observing the fight very closely. Needless to say, he was just as impressed by Nero's power, versatility, and use of his abilities as everyone else was; as well as the intellect he displayed. However, this fight raised a few questions in Makarov's mind, specifically about his arm, he noticed it glow faintly.

Regardless, with that, Makarov entered the ring, and stood next to the defeated Natsu and the triumphant Nero.

"This fight is now over!" Makarov declared, "And the winner is Nero!"

Most of the wizards in the crowd were still in shock at the result of the fight. Nero had just defeated Natsu, and while others have accomplished this in the past, everyone was still surprised by how he had done it. No one had ever used Natsu's motion sickness as a weakness during a fight before.

Nodding to the Master of Fairy Tail, he then turned to the crowd of wizards who had been watching the fight. For a moment, he had thought the members of Fairy Tail would be angry or upset that they had beaten their friend in a fight, but it was quite the opposite, as he was met with thunderous applause; much to his surprise.

Gray, Lucy, and Happy all walked over to a now-victorious Nero.

"Good show out there, man," Gray complimented, "It never gets old seein' charcoal-breath over there getting his butt whooped."

"Well, glad I gave you something to entertained by," chuckled the hunter, but then looked down before looking back up with a slightly annoyed expression, "Gray...you lost something..."

Gray looked down at himself to see that, once again, he had managed to strip down to only his boxers.

"CRAP!"

As Gray scrambled for his clothes, Nero turned around to see that Natsu was currently struggling to his feet, still looking queasy from his spin. He then walked over to him, and in a show of good sportsmanship, he held out his left hand to help Natsu up.

"You good?" asked Nero, helping him up.

Natsu grinned weakly. "Yeah... It's nothin'... Can't wait to kick your butt for real next time."

"Don't get ahead of yourself," cautioned the Demon Hunter, before adding, "Pretty sure you don't wanna go through another spin, right?"

The only response Nero received from Natsu was the latter's cheeks puffing out, and the Dragon Slayer holding his hand to his mouth at the mere thought of spinning around that fast into a suplex again.

Nero began to chuckle as he hooked his thumbs in his belt, it was funny how easy it was to set off Natsu's motion sickness. That was, until he heard a new voice call out over the noise of the crowd of wizards.

"What's all this commotion?"

The instant everyone heard the voice speak, it became dead quiet. Natsu's face became even paler than it already was upon hearing it, much to Nero's confusion. The Demon Hunter turned to face the origin of the voice, finding it to be a young woman, about his age, maybe a year younger, but held a strong, firm, attitude. Among the first things he noticed about the woman was the color of her hair. It was a bright scarlet red.

The next thing that stood out to him is that she was almost completely covered in armor. She wore a breastplate over her torso, which had a red Fairy Tail emblem over the left breast, and a golden, asymmetrical cross that intersected over top of that. Her shoulders had three-layered shoulder plates, and she wore greaves on her forearms that ended in a wing-like structure at her elbows. She also wore a blue skirt, which was covered slightly by plates of armor attached to brown, leather straps that connected to her equally brown belt. In addition, she also wore black, knee-length boots.

Another thing that stood out to Nero is that, despite her unusual wardrobe choice, she was remarkably pretty. Even more so than Mirajane

However, it was then that Nero took a look around at the gathering of wizards. For some reason that he couldn't understand, everyone present, save for Makarov and Mirajane, paled just as much as Natsu at the sight of this woman, and were slowly but steadily backing away in what appeared to be fear.

The scarlet-haired woman glanced around at the now-silent wizards, and narrowed her brow, seemingly irritated that no one was answering her question. However, Mirajane was the first one to break the silence as she approached the armored woman.

"Welcome back, Erza! I'm assuming the job in Freesia went well?"

The armor-clad, scarlet-haired woman, now known as Erza, turned to Mirajane with a neutral expression.

"Yes, it went quite well. The townspeople are safe and it would appear that they're still upset about Natsu destroying their historic church," Erza replied, "Now, I don't suppose you could tell me why everyone has gathered outside of the guild hall? Don't tell me Natsu and Gray have gotten into another fight..."

Mirajane smiled, "Well, it wasn't Gray, exactly, but...," She then waved Nero over, to which the Demon Hunter responded by approaching the two ladies. "Erza, this is Nero. Lucy and Natsu ran into him while they were out on a job today. He has no place to go, so Master is letting him stay here until he can get home. After he explained where he was from and what he could do, Natsu challenged him to a fight and lost. You just missed it, unfortunately."

Erza then turned to Nero and gave him a hard stare, which caused most of the wizards watching to turn even paler. However, Nero was unaffected by it as he folded his arms.

"Is this true?" Erza asked.

"Basically the gist of it," replied Nero casually with a shrug, "It was more of a summary of what happened, but basically the same."

Erza turned her gaze to Natsu, who froze completely upon realizing she was looking at him. However, she quickly returned her attention to Nero and held out her left armored hand.

Erza smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Nero. My name is Erza Scarlet."

Nero's eyes widened a millimeter at Erza's reaction to Mirajane's explanation, or rather, her lack of one. Even so, he took the hand, thankful that she used her left, as he gave her a sideways grin.

"Nero. Nice to meet you as well, Erza."

After their handshake, Erza focused her attention on a certain Dragon Slayer, who, as the armored wizard approached him, began to tremble in fear, along with most of the other wizards watching. She gave Natsu a good looking-over, almost as if she were checking to see if he was injured.

 _'Wonder what's got everyone on edge,'_ thought Nero, though as if on cue, Erza brought her armored fist down onto Natsu's head with an audible clang, leading everyone to wince, and Nero to do so as well, just a little less, _'Oh...so that's why.'_

"You _idiot_! How _dare_ you challenge a guest of this guild to a fight! I have half a mind to beat you myself!" Erza roared.

Before Erza could carry out her threat, Makarov quickly stepped in and pulled the redheaded wizard away from Natsu, with the latter instantly scurrying over to the guild hall's entrance afterwards.

"Now, now, Erza. Settle down." Makarov appeased.

As Makarov tried to calm Erza, several feet away from the two of them were Nero, Gray, Lucy, Elfman, and Happy.

Nero looked to group and pointed to Erza, "An explanation would be nice."

"That's Erza for yah," Happy commented, "Always bringin' down the iron fist. She's the strongest woman in Fairy Tail! She's super strong and super scary!"

"She's the manliest one in the guild..." Elfman remarked.

"You do not wanna get on her bad side. Period." Gray concluded.

All Nero could do was stare at his newfound friends in slight bafflement. Was her strength really enough to warrant all this fear from everyone? Granted, it sounded like they still respected her, but even so, she didn't seem scary at all to Nero, or at least from what he experienced himself with her anyway.

Nero was snapped out of his musings when Makarov began to speak, with Erza standing at his side as he did so, "Alright everyone, as fun as it was, the show's over now! Time for you to head back inside!"

With that, the wizards all began filing back into the guild hall, with Makarov, Erza, Nero, Gray, Lucy, Elfman, and Happy following them. It was still fairly early in the afternoon, so he figured he might as well get accustomed to the place he'd be staying for the foreseeable future.

* * *

 _-Later-_

Things had finally begun to settle down from the brawl between Natsu and Nero; though, at first, many of the wizards did approach the Demon Hunter to congratulate him on his well-earned victory. He wasn't opposed to the praise, but still couldn't quite fathom why they'd be happy that he'd beaten the shit out of their friend.

Nero was currently sitting on a stool at the bar, simply looking out at the guild of rowdy wizards as they resumed whatever it was they were doing before he arrived. He didn't know exactly what to feel right now. Part of him was extremely grateful to them for allowing him to stay in their guild hall, but another part of him felt...strange. Here he was a person with the only job that involved hunting demons and he was surrounded by an entire guild full of nothing but wizards. Plus, he wasn't really one for crowds

Mirajane and Makarov were also at the counter, with the former being behind it and the latter sitting cross-legged on top of it. Mira seemed to notice Nero's reluctance to join the others.

"What's wrong, Nero? Is everything alright?" Mira asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm good," replied Nero glancing at the girl for a second, "just never really been one for crowds. And if I'm being honest, kinda feel outta place here."

"Whatever would make you feel like that?" the white-haired beauty wondered.

"Not sure," Nero sighed, "I mean, I'm not even a member of your guys' guild or anything. Do non-members usually stay here as guests?"

Mirajane tapped her chin in thought, seemingly trying to recall an instance of a guest staying at the guild who wasn't a member.

"Hmm... I can't say I remember it ever happening before," She looked at Nero and beamed, "I guess that makes you the first one!"

Before Nero could think of a response, Natsu barges into the conversation by slamming his hand on the bar counter, an excited grin on his face yet again. "So, Nero! What do yah say to Round Two?!"

"No," replied the hunter bluntly, "besides didn't we just finish one?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever! Come on, man!" Natsu urged. He then begins to punch the air as he talks, similarly to how a boxer would fight, "If I have to sit around in here all day, I'll-"

Suddenly, Natsu's rambling was cut off by an armored fist to the top of his head once again, sending shivers up the Dragon Slayer's entire body. Nero turned to his right to see that Erza had stepped over and was visibly displeased with the fire-breather's actions.

Mirajane smiled, "Oh my goodness."

"What did I say?!" Erza growled, "You are not to challenge Nero to another fight, do you understand?!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Natsu trembled.

With that, the pink-haired wizard quickly scrambled away, leaving Nero, Erza, and Mirajane to watch as he ran off.

"Whipped," said Nero under his breath in amusement before turning to Erza, "Thanks for that. Guy just doesn't give up, does he?

Just then, Happy entered the conversation, wearing his usually happy smile.

"That's Natsu for yah," He chimed.

Happy then flew off as quickly as he appeared, leaving Nero confused if his arched eyebrow was anything to go by. However, it was then that Erza spoke up, snapping Nero out of his confusion.

"I swear, sometimes I don't know what to do with him..."

"From the look of things, just keep doing what you're doing," commented Nero, "Pretty sure you've got him under your thumb."

"So, Nero, it seems all anyone can talk about is how you defeated Natsu in combat. You must be quite the wizard." Erza commented.

Nero internally sighed from that comment. Ever since he had beaten Natsu, everyone had been talking about what a talented Demon-Slayer he was, despite how many times he told them he didn't use magic. Erza then took the seat at the bar to Nero's right and turned to him.

"That would be the case if I was a wizard," replied Nero.

"Are you not a wizard?" asked Erza as she cocked an eyebrow.

"No, I'm a demon hunter. I don't use magic as a primary source," explained the silver-haired hunter, "I incorporate it, but I never used it as a base in _my_ world, nevermind this one."

Nero turned to face Erza to see that the armored wizard was staring at him in utter confusion, clearly taken aback by what he had just said.

" _'My world'_?" She echoed, "What exactly are you referring to?"

 _Shit_

Nero's eyes widened slightly from surprise. He had figured someone would've told Erza about his otherworldly origins by now. It had been a little bit since the fight ended. So, just as he did with everyone else earlier, he explained to her how he was from another universe. Luckily, Mirajane was there to help him with that a small bit. At the end of his explanation, Erza looked more than a bit surprised.

"You say you're from a world alternate to our own? How is that even possible?" Erza queried.

Nero nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I know it must sound pretty crazy. I mean, this world doesn't seem to have the kind of demons as mine and not nearly the same level of powers as they do."

Erza didn't respond and instead shifted her gaze directly into Nero's eyes with a serious look in her own. It was almost as if she was looking straight through him, oddly enough.

Before Nero could question the look Erza was giving him, the scarlet-haired wizard's attention was drawn by something behind him. When Nero turned around to see what it was he saw that Makarov looked a noticeably sleepier than he did only moments ago. Mirajane also noticed this and looked slightly concerned.

"Sir? Is something wrong?" Mira questioned.

"I'm fine... Just sleepy..." He replied.

Makarov's tired face then grew slightly darker, much to Nero's confusion.

"He's coming..."

Just then, Nero noticed that Mira's eyes seemingly became heavier all of a sudden. "Mira...?"

Mirajane didn't respond as her eyes closed, and she fell limp on the floor, sound asleep. Nero would've stood up and tried to help her, but then he felt his own eyes getting heavier. What was happening?

Over in the rest of the guild hall, Gray and Elfman, as well as everyone else, looked either considerably tired or pained, much to Nero's confusion. What did Makarov mean by that? "He's coming"? Who was "he"? Nero would've asked if he could, but he couldn't find the strength to for some bizarre reason.

"Not again...," Gray groaned.

Everyone around the guild hall began to drop like flies: Natsu, Gray, Elfman, Happy, Lucy, Levy, Jet, Droy, Wakaba, and everyone else. Nero fought to stay awake, just on the brink of sleep, however, he reached up with Devil Bringer to his eyes and rubbed. However, as he was doing this, Ezra also fell to the phenomenon, her head leaning to the side as she fell into Nero. The Demon Hunter was knocked down to the ground, however, he remained awake, just enough to feel Erza's head land in his lap.

After everyone, save for Makarov and to an extent Nero, was sound asleep, a figure entered through the entrance of the guild hall. It was a man; that was the only discernible feature about him. He wore a dark blue cloak with an upturned collar, which was held together by two red buttons tied together with white string. His arms and legs were covered in bandages, and he wore dark blue gloves on his hands that matched his cloak.

He also sported a dark blue bandanna on his head that obscured his eyes, with a silver forehead protector. He had a dark green cloth which was wrapped around his neck and face, obscuring everything from his nose down. His upper legs were covered in bizarre, dark blue pants that puffed out, ultimately resembling upside-down bells with two silvery-gray stripes on either one. Around his waster, which was obscured by the aforementioned bell-like pants, he wore two dark green belts, similar to the larger dark green strap with a silver buckle which was slung over his right shoulder. The man carried a wooden staff with a fan-like end to it in his right hand.

The oddly-dressed man steadily approached Makarov, and made a left, walking over to the bulletin board to the left of the bar. Above this board read, "Request Board." This was where the multiple wizarding jobs that came in from all over were posted, and could be taken by any wizard looking for work.

The bizarre man walked over to the board, ripped a flier off of it, which appeared to have the image of a large, reptilian monster on it, and walked back over to Makarov, who simply looked up at him.

"Mystogan...," Makarov said.

The masked man, now known only as "Mystogan," spoke up, but in a low, monotone voice.

Mystogan held up his flier and simply said, "I shall return..."

"No, wait. Lift your sleeping spell before you leave." Makarov ordered.

Without responding, Mystogan glanced to his left, to see Nero sitting on the ground, leaning against the bar with Erza sleeping in his lap. He looked at Nero in particular and was surprised to see that Nero was still awake, if on the brink of sleep. The Demon Hunter's head lolled up to see the man, but his vision was heavily clouded. Any expressions the mysterious wizard may have been making were hidden by his bandanna and mask.

"What is it?" Makarov asked, curious.

Mystogan continued to stare for a brief moment, not saying a word. However, he then turned around and began to walk away, job request in-hand. As he made his way back through the guild hall, he spoke to himself.

Mystogan passed by several tables, and started his countdown. "Five..." he walked pass several wizards lying on the floor. "Four...Three..." As Mystogan made his way to the exit, he continued counting down. "Two... One..."

With that, the mysterious man disappeared completely, fading away in an eerie blur.

After he had disappeared, almost everyone in the guild immediately came to, with their eyes shooting wide open. There were a scarce few who didn't awaken instantly, with those few being Natsu, Nero who was shaking off the sleepiness, and Erza who was coming around as others around the guild hall came around.

"Uh, what the hell?" muttered Nero as his hand went up to his head. Eyes strained for a moment before the blurriness began to clear. Once they did, he immediately took notice of a weight on his lap.

Looking down, the first thing Nero saw, upon his eyes refocusing was the sleeping face of Erza, to his serious surprise. For a moment, he couldn't help but stare at her, that is until he regained his awareness and he began to help Erza off the floor.

Ezra woke up to the feeling of someone helping her up. Getting her feet under her, she began to stand under her own strength. She placed her armored palm on her forehead, seemingly still reeling somewhat from whatever just happened. Nero could definitely relate if he hadn't completely fallen asleep. What the hell just happened? Everyone was fine one moment, and then the next thing he knew, everyone was falling to the floor dead asleep.

However, he wasn't sure if whatever it was that just happened was the cause, but he could've sworn he saw someone.

"Oh, man…," Jet moaned, "Was Mystogan here?"

Droy rubbed his eyes, "What a jerk..."

"Does he have to put us to sleep every time he comes here?" Levy groaned.

Nero had overheard what the trio of wizards had just said from a table not too far away from the bar counter.

 _'Mystogan? Was it the guy who came in?'_ wondered Nero.

Lucy groggily walked over to the bar counter where Makarov was with a sleepy look on her face, rubbing her eyes all the while, "Who's this Mystogan guy?"

"Yah, beat me to the question," interjected Nero.

Both Gray and Elfman walked over to the bar as well, standing right beside Lucy.

"For one, he's a contender for Fairy Tail's strongest wizard," Elfman answered.

Nero turned to Elfman, sleepy but still surprised, "Really?"

Lucy rubbed her eyes, and questioned, "He's that strong?"

"Yeah...," Gray nodded, "and for some reason, he doesn't want anyone to see what he looks like. So, whenever he comes here to take a job, he casts a sleeping spell."

"Well, that's...annoying," commented Nero, now fully recovered from his near bout of sleep, retaking his seat along with Erza before turning around to face Gray with a slightly annoyed and suspicious expression on his face.

"That's kinda creepy..." Lucy commented.

"Yah don't say?" agreed Nero, "What's so secret about this guy that he wants to hide it from everyone?"

Gray shrugged. "Nobody knows..." He glanced over at Makarov. "Master Makarov is the only person here who's ever gotten a good look at his face..."

"That's not true. _I've_ seen him before..." a voice spoke out.

Everyone was surprised to hear the new voice speak up, including Nero, and turned to its source. Standing on the second floor of the Guildhall was a tall and muscular man that appeared to be in his early twenties. He had spiky, blond hair which was slicked back, with several spiky strands pointing backward, and a few small tufts hanging down on his forehead. He had a very distinctive, lightning bolt-shaped scar over his right eye and eyebrow. He wore a pair of partially-rounded headphones, with each one possesses a single, large spike in the center. He wore a mustard-yellow shirt with black, leopard-like spots on the shoulders, collar, arms, and sides. Over top of this shirt, he wore a large, black coat with bluish-gray fur trimmings, which was hung lazily over his shoulders. He also wore wine-red pants, and plain, silvery-white shoes.

The man was currently leaning his right elbow on the railing, with his hand holding his head as he wore a snide grin as he chuckled lightly to himself.

Several individuals around the guild walked over below the balcony and looked up at this blond, headphone-wearing man with slightly surprised expressions. Nero and Erza both got up from their seats at the bar to do so as well.

One of the aforementioned individuals was a man who was roughly in his mid-thirties. He was a slim, mildly muscular man of average height, with short, slicked-back dark blue hair. He had linear, dark eyebrows, dark eyes, and a prominent nose with a flat, rectangular front. The lower half of his face was covered in a considerable amount of stubble, which includes a thin mustache. He wore a high-collared, knee-length white jacket with the sleeves rolled up, and a blue trim, as well as blue innards. Underneath this, he wore a black shirt, tucked into a pair of brown pants held up by a white belt with a golden buckle.

This was Macao Conbolt.

"Laxus!" Elfman called out.

"Talk about rare," Macao commented.

"You're never here," Wakaba added.

"And here's another contender," Gray said flatly.

Nero glanced to Gray, slightly surprised but kept it hidden, and then turned back to the blond, scar-faced wizard, known as Laxus. Nero had no gauge of what a powerful wizard looked like in this world, having only been in this magic-filled universe for less than a day. The only powerful 'wizard' he's ever faced was Agnus, and even that was a stretch cause the guy was an alchemist. But after meeting Natsu, Erza, and several other wizards of the Fairy Tail guild, he was beginning to realize that there was a lot more variety in magic in this world than in his.

"Mystogan's just a little shy. You should all respect his privacy," Laxus grinned snidely.

 _'I think I hate this guy,'_ thought Nero as he narrowed his eyes. Laxus hadn't said more than a few words and Nero already didn't like him.

It was then that Natsu's eyes finally jolted open, Mystogan's sleeping spell having only just now worn off for him. The Dragon Slayer quickly jumped to his feet and onto a table as he looked up at Laxus with a determined expression and clenched fists.

"Alright, Laxus! IT'S TIME TO BRAWL!" Natsu yelled.

"For the love of God..." muttered Nero, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"Gettin' your butt kicked twice in one week wasn't enough?" Gray said, annoyed.

"Yeah, pal. If you can't even win against the _redhead_ , why bother with _me_?" Laxus mocked with an amused grin on his face.

It was then that Nero could feel a strange air coming from his left. He turned to see Erza glaring up at Laxus with an incredibly dark expression. Nero certainly hadn't seen her like that before.

"What was that?" Erza snarled.

"No need to get all worked up, Erza." Gray lifted up his hands in a placating gesture, trembling slightly.

Laxus simply scoffed at Erza's obvious anger towards him as well as Gray's attempts to placate her. "Word on the street is the Fairy Tail guild has a new special guest," The blonde wizard stated. Laxus then glanced over to Nero, which the Demon Hunter was quick to take notice of, and the more he spoke, the more he was tempted to make him eat a bullet from Blue Rose, "...and that he gave 'Natsu the Salamander' the biggest thrashing this week." he taunted.

"HEY!" Natsu shouted indignantly.

"Talk about pathetic," Laxus sneered, "You challenge some _nobody_ fresh off the streets and lose to him. Then you think you have what it takes to go up against _me_?" The blonde man simply laughed.

Nero glared at Laxus, gritting his teeth tightly, as the man continued laughing up a storm. He was a little mad about the insult true, but what really pissed him off was the fact that he was speaking in such a condescending way to people who were, at least in Makarov's eyes, supposed to be his "family." Erza seemed to feel the same way as she angrily stepped forward, standing tall and firm, glaring at Laxus.

"If you have something to say then come out and say it!" Erza yelled.

Laxus ceased his cackling and outstretched his arms. "I'm saying that I'm the guild's strongest wizard."

Natsu gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes up at Laxus. "Then come down here and prove it."

"You come to me, little man." Laxus talked through his teeth, speaking in a mocking tone.

"With pleasure!"

Natsu then hopped off of the table he'd been standing on, rushed over to the bar, and jumped over the counter, heading towards the staircase behind it that led to the second floor of the guild hall. However, Natsu was stopped in his tracks when Makarov's left arm suddenly stretched out, with his fist becoming at least five times larger than the old man's entire body, and slammed down on Natsu, pinning him underneath. Needless to say, Nero was not expecting that at all, especially not from Makarov. Neither was Lucy or Mirajane, judging from their shocked expressions.

"Now there's something I didn't expect," commented Nero.

Makarov wasn't even facing Natsu, but instead had his eyes closed and head lowered as he faced forward, a very serious aura about him, unlike anything Nero had seen from him until now.

"You're not allowed on the second floor, Natsu. At least not yet..." Makarov reprimanded.

Laxus rested his chin on his wrist and scoffed, "Think yah made him grumpy..."

Natsu's face only grew angrier with Laxus's comment as he struggled against Makarov's massive left fist, but to no avail. "Shut up!"

"That's enough outta you, Laxus!" Makarov chastised.

Ignoring Makarov's demand, Laxus stood tall, an arrogant, condescending grin on his face as he looked down at everyone present in the guild hall.

"The most powerful one in the guild isn't a chick or some hooded weirdo. Yah wanna know what the strongest wizard looks like?" Laxus paused to point at himself. "You're lookin' right at him!"

Nero could only glare at Laxus as did everyone else, all of them thoroughly angered by everything the arrogant man had said. It appeared that there were jerks in this world like there were in Nero's, and Laxus was just the first one he'd met.

 _'And I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't the last...'_ thought Nero grimly.

* * *

 _-Later-_

As time passed and the sun had gone down, and most of the Fairy Tail wizards had left for their respective homes, Mirajane, Lucy, and Nero were at the bar counter yet again, with Mirajane standing behind it, while Lucy and Nero sat on a couple of stools in front of it.

"Hey, Mirajane, lemme ask yah something, what was the Master talking about earlier?" Lucy inquired, "Why can't we go up to the second floor?"

"Been meaning to ask that myself," Nero included, "Guy seemed pretty serious about whatever it was."

"That's because that area is reserved for advanced members of the guild. The jobs that are listed on the request board up there make the ones down here look like child's play in comparison. They're called S-Class quests." Mirajane replied.

"Those being?" quired Nero.

Mira nodded and explained, "They're jobs so dangerous that one wrong move could be your last. But, with that risk, comes a higher reward."

Nero nodded in understanding. From what he knew about this world, apparently fighting a band of thirty-plus bandits was considered a low-paying wizarding job, or at least in comparison to other jobs. It was still somewhat upsetting to Nero that these wizards got paid for doing essentially what he did back home; however, he was hardly concerned about it. Especially since it sounded like they made world just as safe as he did, or at least used to, before the demons began drying up.

"There are only five people in the entire guild who are considered S-Class. That includes Laxus, Mystogan, and Erza," Mira continued.

"Really?" Nero's eyes widened from surprise after hearing that. He heard from Happy that Erza was the strongest woman in Fairy Tail, but he hadn't expected her to be one of the guild's S-Class members. She seemed so different from Laxus and Mystogan, the latter of whom was so secretive he couldn't even let people see his face, and the former of whom is an arrogant jerk who talks down to his fellow members. For the most part, she seemed just like everybody else in the guild, despite being one of the most powerful wizards in it. He gained a new level of respect for her just then.

Mirajane turned to Lucy, "But I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, Lucy. In my opinion, there's no amount of money worth risking your life over."

"Yeah, no kidding," Lucy agreed, "Especially not after today's little mishap..."

Nero simply nodded in agreement.

* * *

 _-Later-_

After a while, Lucy took off back to her apartment in Magnolia, with Mirajane heading off to wherever it was that she stayed. Before the white-haired beauty left, she made sure Nero knew where everything was, just so he'd know his way around the place.

Right now, Nero was currently sitting on a bench at one of the many tables in the main room of the guild hall, seeing as he couldn't sleep. After all, how could he? So many things had happened in only one day, and he was only just now getting the opportunity to process all of it. He'd met a strange professor and had been sent to another universe, seen magic the likes of which he'd never seen before, been introduced to an entire guild full of wizards, fought a guy who had been raised by a dragon, been put nearly to sleep by a mysterious wizard, and had an encounter with who was undoubtedly the biggest jerk he'd met in this crazy world he's found himself in.

Even by Nero's standards, this had been quite the experience. And he still had no idea how he was going to get back home. The disc was in a thousand pieces and not likely to be fixed, and it's not like he could use Yamato. Thing was too dangerous to mess around with and he didn't know if it would actually bring him to his world or the demon world. On the off chance, it did work, the risk was way too high.

"Can't sleep?"

Glancing over his shoulder, Nero spotted Makarov standing behind the table Nero was seated at. The elderly man then hopped up onto the opposite bench, and subsequently onto the table.

"Yep," replied Nero bluntly.

"It's been quite the day for you, hasn't it, Nero?"

"Pretty big understatement," replied the hunter, "Not sure if I've been anywhere this crazy."

Makarov simply smiled as he sat down on the tabletop, to Nero's immediate left, "I'm terribly sorry you had to deal with that unpleasantness earlier with Laxus. I'm constantly at my wit's end about what to do with that boy, and Mystogan stopping by the guild was unexpected, as it always is. That you would have to fall victim to his sleeping spell on your first day here..." the elderly man paused.

"Don't worry about it," waved over Nero, "I've dealt with worse, and I didn't fall completely asleep, though can't really say I saw much."

For a moment, everything was silent until Makarov finally spoke up again. "So, tell me, Nero... What do you think of the magic you've seen in this world?"

The demon hybrid turned to Makarov, before looking back towards the guild hall's main doors.

"Can for certain, nothing like demon magic," replied Nero, "But then again, I have only seen two kinds and so far, they're nothing to shake a stick at."

"Yes. Natsu's, and Lucy's too." Makarov commented, "But surely you've heard from some of the others what _they_ are capable of as well."

"Oh yeah," nodded Nero.

Over the course of the day, several wizards had approached him not only to congratulate him, but some of them also informed him of some of the different types of magic that they use. Wakaba used Smoke Magic, which allowed him to control the smoke that came from his pipe and use it for various purposes. Macao used a type of magic called Purple Flare which allowed him to manipulate purple flames that could take multiple shapes, Levy used a type of magic called Solid Script, which allowed her to use a magic pen to write different words in the air that all take on the attributes of the word itself, such as the word "Iron" made out of iron. There were others as well, like Jet and Droy. All of their abilities sounded amazing.

"So, with that in mind," continued Makarov, "what do you think about the magic of this world as a whole? Is it perhaps similar to things you've seen in your own world?"

Nero thought for a moment before he responded. Although he did think of one, he wasn't quite sure where Makarov was going with this.

"Can't really say for certain. But gotta admit; for the most part, I've probably handled a demon that could do something similar to something here," replied Nero.

Makarov, who had his eyes closed and head lowered, nodded a couple times in understanding. "I see..." The Fairy Tail master then opened his eyes, and turned to Nero, looking directly into his, "Then why do you claim that you are not a wizard?"

 _So, that's what the old man is after?_

Nero knew what Makarov was getting at. Several members of the guild referred to him as a Demon Slayer, which wasn't far off from being a Demon Hunter, but that implied he used demon magic, where in reality, he was part demon, "Because I only use the magic as a utility, not a frontline response. My skill comes from me, not from magic, so I don't consider myself a wizard," answered Nero.

Makarov let out a long sigh, before looking forward at the entrance to the guild, "There is much more to being a wizard than simply wielding magic. Power can come from all kinds of sources: light, darkness, magic, and science. Where it comes from is insignificant in comparison to what the holder does with it. It is what we choose to do with the powers we possess that makes us who we are," The old man said wisely, "Fairy Tail wizards make the most of what we have, cherish the time we share together as a family, and live every day to the fullest. That is what it means to be a wizard to us..." he turned to the demon hunter hybrid, "And you, Nero, would make an excellent wizard."

Nero simply stared at the man, containing his surprise very well. He didn't know exactly how to respond to that.

By that logic, it made sense that everyone thought of him as a wizard. Here he was, stuck in a world entirely separate from his own, but he didn't appear to be too outwardly fazed by it. While he was indeed still worried about how he would get home, he hadn't shown it outwardly all that much.

To the wizards of Fairy Tail, that practically made him one of them. He wasn't sitting around feeling sorry for himself or complaining about being essentially stranded. He was making the most of his situation, despite the circumstances. However, Nero then noticed something about what Makarov had said.

"You wouldn't be trying to get me to join...would you?" asked Nero, in a level tone.

"I am simply offering you a chance. I've sent a letter to an old colleague of mine on the Magic Council, requesting he look into any kind of magic that could send you home. If, however, there isn't any, I will offer you a place here for as long as you wish to stay."

Nero's eyes widened slightly with that. It went without saying that Nero was surprised; however, more than anything, he was touched. Makarov described this guild as his "family," and he was already willing trust Nero enough to offer him a place in it.

Thanks, I really appreciate what you've done...but," thanked the hunter as he turned to look at the floor, "my place is at my home."

Makarov closed his eyes and nodded. "I understand. Still, my offer stands."

Makarov then stood up, hopped down to the floor, and stretched his arms. "Now, I think I need to rest these weary old bones," He stopped stretching and looked back at Nero. "Goodnight."

With that, Makarov walked back into the back section of the guild, where he too was sleeping. He refused to let a guest of the guild stay there without providing protection for them, even if they could clearly defend themselves.

Nero remained in the main hall for a while longer, continuing to mull over everything that happened today. Eventually, he thought he might finally be able to get some sleep.

"Guess now would be a good time to head off," He muttered.

He was about to stand up and head off to the back section, until he noticed something moving inside the guild hall. It was dark, but not so dark that he couldn't make things out. He looked up, to see Happy, floating close to the ceiling using his wings, clearly trying to be inconspicuous. He saw the blue feline fly to the upper floor of the guild hall, which immediately raised a flag in Nero's mind.

A few moments later, he spotted Happy flying away from the second floor towards and open window, carrying a piece of paper in his paws. He would've made it through said window had a giant hand suddenly grabbed the cat and pulled him, the feline letting out a startled squeak.

Coming to an abrupt halt, Happy looked at the one who was responsible to see Nero with narrowed eyes boring into his head.

"Nero!" yelped Happy.

"And where do you think you're going?" asked Nero rhetorically, his tone left the feline chuckling sheepishly as he continued to hold onto the S-Class quest Mirajane had spoken about earlier.

 _ **To Be Continued...**_


	4. Chapter 4 Galuna Island Part 1

_**Starting this right from where we left off with Nero last time. So he caught Happy in the act and hopefully it won't end badly.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**_

* * *

 _ **Previously on Devil Tail...**_

 _Nero remained in the main hall for a while longer, continuing to mull over everything that happened today. Eventually, he thought he might finally be able to get some sleep._

 _"Guess now would be a good time to head off," He muttered._

 _He was about to stand up and head off to the back section until he noticed something moving inside the guild hall. It was dark, but not so dark that he couldn't make things out. He looked up, to see Happy, floating close to the ceiling using his wings, clearly trying to be inconspicuous. He saw the blue feline fly to the upper floor of the guild hall, which immediately raised a flag in Nero's mind._

 _A few moments later, he spotted Happy flying away from the second floor towards an open window, carrying a piece of paper in his paws. He would've made it through said window had a giant hand suddenly grabbed the cat and pulled him, the feline letting out a startled squeak._

 _Coming to an abrupt halt, Happy looked at the one who was responsible to see Nero with narrowed eyes boring into his head._

 _"Nero!" yelped Happy._

 _"And where do you think you're going?" asked Nero rhetorically, his tone left the feline chuckling sheepishly as he continued to hold onto the S-Class quest Mirajane had spoken about earlier._

* * *

 _ **Devil** ** _T_ ail**_

 _ **Chapter 4: Galuna Island: Part 1**_

Lucy was, at the moment, returning to her apartment, walking down the streets of Magnolia. She was pretty giddy, having seen several very famous wizards in the last hour.

 _'Wow! Mystogan and Laxus! That is so cool. I can't believe how many famous wizards there are in Fairy Tail!'_ She grinned excitedly, "And I think I'm starting to figure out how everybody's ranked within the guild."

She continued to talk to herself, even as she entered her apartment complex, which in reality wasn't that different from an average household.

"Gotta start workin' my way to the top!" she proclaimed.

With that, Lucy turned the doorknob to her apartment and opened the door. However, what she found inside was unlike anything she expected, or had any want to. There, on her bed, was both Natsu and Happy, the fire-breather having abandoned his vest and was doing sit-ups and the blue feline lifting a large dumbbell, or at least proportionally.

"Welcome home!" Natsu greeted, doing sit-ups.

"Sup?" Happy resumed lifting his dumbbell.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Lucy rushed over to Natsu and Happy and kicked them both out of her bed, much to their discomfort and pain, "YOU GUYS STINK!"

As Natsu and Happy got up off the floor, Lucy angrily pointed out the window, "Why don't you jerks work out at your _own_ house?!"

Natsu grinned happily. "Now, Lucy, if we wanna work together like a team-" He pulled out a pink dumbbell, "-we gotta train like one!"

"We thought you'd like the _pink_ dumbbell." Happy added.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT COLOR IT IS, I'M _NOT_ LIFTING WEIGHTS WITH YOU!" Lucy yelled angrily.

Ignoring Lucy's angry outburst, Natsu and Happy then get on the floor and began doing pushups.

"We gotta kick it up a notch if we wanna beat Laxus and Erza. Nero too," claimed the firebreather.

Natsu and Happy then begin doing pushups at a faster rate, both of them now whispering as they talk, and picking up greater speed with their pushups by the second.

"Don't worry, we'll train quietly, Lucy!" Natsu whispered.

"Why does this kinda stuff always happen to me...?!" Lucy cried comically.

Natsu then ceased his pushups with Happy following his example. For a brief moment, everything was silent, until the fire wizard spoke, "I've made a decision..."

Lucy turned back to Natsu, a puzzled look on her face with Natsu turning up to look at her, wearing his usual confident grin.

"Our team is ready for the big time: S-Class!" he declared zealously.

With that, Happy hopped up onto Lucy's desk and held up a piece of paper that had a large, red circle stamped on it with a large "S" in the middle and the word "Class" next to it. The circle had a stylized pair of both angelic and demonic wings on it.

"Yeah! Check it out!" Happy said.

Upon seeing the flier for what was undoubtedly an S-Class quest, Lucy's eyes nearly bulged out of her head as she took an unconscious step back.

"HOW DID YOU GET THAT?!" Lucy cried, mortified. "I THOUGHT WE WEREN'T ALLOWED TO GO ON THE SECOND FLOOR!"

"Well, I just flew up to the top, and _took_ it!" explained the blue cat, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"YOU LITTLE CAT BURGLAR!" she yelled. A cheeky grin spread across Happy's face from Lucy's reaction. Natsu put his vest back on and approached the two.

"Since this is our first S-Class quest, we decided to go with the smallest reward we found on the board," He grinned happily and gave a thumbs-up, "But seven million is still a lot of Jewel!"

Lucy turned to Natsu and stated, "But we're not ready for it! If the Master knew we had this job request, he'd be _furious_!"

"Yeah, but I think he'll end up being proud of us if we actually pull it off," he retorted nonchalantly.

Lucy simply sighed in irritation as she sat down at her desk and crossed her legs, her palm resting on her cheek.

"You know," said Lucy, "this may be the dumbest thing you've ever done, Natsu. If you wanna rise up the ranks, you should try following the guild's rules."

"Geez, we're never gonna make S-Class with _that_ kinda attitude," Natsu grumbled.

"You can handle this on your own. I'm staying right here," asserted Lucy.

Happy held up the flier and mentioned, "But the job is saving a tropical island!"

This caught Lucy's attention as she looked at the paper curiously, "Really?"

Natsu leaned on the desk as he and Happy both stare at the blond wizard silently for a moment until their expressions both grow intentionally darker. They spoke in the typical "ghostly" voice, thoroughly creeping Lucy out.

 _"It's the cursed island of Galuna...!"_ Natsu and Happy said simultaneously.

"No way! Definitely not going now!" Lucy freaked out.

 _"I'll give you half the fish I catch, Lucy...!" Happy goaded._

"WHAT KINDA INCENTIVE IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?!" the blonde yelled.

Lucy then calms herself and folds her arms, having had enough of her two friends' antics. "Hmph..."

Seeing that their attempts to convince her were of no use, the Dragon Slayer and feline finally decided to leave. However, instead of opening the door to do so, they opened the window by Lucy's bed.

"Fine," relented Natsu, "We're outta here."

"Aye," Happy chimed.

"That's the best idea you've had all day," Lucy commented. She opened her eyes and saw the method in which Natsu and Happy were leaving. Happy sprouted his wings and flew out with Natsu grabbing onto the blue cat's tail as the two floated to the ground.

"Hold on...!" Lucy pointed angrily to the door, "For crying out loud, would you use the door?!"

Lucy then turned around, huffed, and placed her hands on her hips, seemingly exhausted simply by those two having been in her apartment. However, she then glanced to her right and noticed something. The S-Class flier was still lying on the floor!

"Oh no! They left the job request here!" Lucy placed her hands on her head in panic, "Now everybody's gonna think _I'm_ the one who stole it! What'll I do?!"

Just then, Lucy's eyes widened when she looked at the flier again. She then picked it up and examined it more thoroughly; growing even more surprised once she'd done so, "Is this for real? On top of the giant reward, you also get a Gate Key?!"

On the flier right below the listed reward of seven million, there was the silhouette drawing of a key, which read "Gold" next to it. Lucy hummed in thought for a second before smiling slyly.

Natsu and Happy, the former of whom wearing what appeared to be a brown sleeping bag strapped over his arms, were walking over the bridge directly in front of Lucy's apartment building; though it looked like they were moving at a slower pace than they normally would have. They were simply biding their time, until...

"Wait up, you guys! I've decided to come along!" Lucy called out.

There she was, rushing to catch up with her two friends, and now wearing a sleeveless, orange, zip-up tank top with a white trim and white straps, as well as a blue jean skirt. She was carrying the S-Class flier, leading Natsu and Happy to grin, seeing now that their plan had worked. However, as they were leaving, Happy couldn't help but feel he was forgetting something.

* * *

 _-Later-_

And with that, Lucy, Natsu, and Happy were off, walking through Magnolia with their spirits high in anticipation of this S-Class quest. Lucy may have objected at first, but with the promise of a Gold Gate Key, her objections practically vanished.

"So, it looks like we're off to Hargeon then!" Lucy said happily.

"Yep!" Natsu grinned. "Man, I'm so excited! This is gonna be awesome! Right, Happy?"

"Aye, sir!" Happy replied.

Lucy's eyes then widened slightly as a thought crossed her mind. She turned to Happy with a somewhat concerned expression, "So you're sure nobody saw you make off with this request?" she asked hesitantly.

Happy smiled and responded, "Positive!"

"Relax, Lucy!" Natsu assured, "Who would've seen him take it? It's not like people hang out at the guild overnight."

Lucy stopped walking as Natsu and Happy continued, staring at the two incredulously, "Seriously...? Did you idiots already forget that Nero is staying at the guild and that Master Makarov is staying there too?"

Natsu and Happy stopped dead in their tracks. The two then turned to each other with blank, wide-eyed expressions, clearly having forgotten all about Nero.

"Gotta admit, you would think you'd remember me," said a familiar voice, causing the Fairy Tail trio to nearly leap out of the skins, particularly Happy as he suddenly remembered what it was that he forgot.

They looked around wildly for the owner of the voice when footsteps began to echo around them. Lucy was finally able to pin down where the source of the footsteps and voice was and to her shock, as well as the shock of Natsu and the despair of Happy, Nero emerged from the shadows of a small alleyway. Resting on his shoulder was Red Queen as he came to a stop. His back facing them.

"NERO!?" cried out the three wizards.

Without saying a word, Nero turned to the group and began walking towards them. He came to a stop right in front of them and had to look down at the three, given he was about a solid foot and a half taller than them.

Natsu and Happy pulled themselves together well enough, but Lucy was still visibly shaking. She'd seen just how brutal Nero could be, especially with the treatment he gave Natsu, and she would understating that she didn't want to be in a fight with him.

"Nero...! Wh-what are _you_ doing here?" Lucy asked nervously.

"Pretty sure I should be asking the three of you that," retorted the Demon Hunter, before glancing at Happy with a cold look that had the feline sweating nervously.

Not noticing the fearful look, because Lucy flinched because of the bluntness of the answer. His baby blue eyes seemed to drill into her soul, especially with the darkness of the night. Even the calmness of his voice put her on edge.

"Well... Y-you see, we were just-," Lucy stammered.

"Don't try to bullshit me," cut in Nero as he wasn't about to have any stories, "I know you got an S-Class job and are going to go try to complete it."

"How did you-"

"A little cat told me," Nero answered, interrupting the Celestial Wizard and glancing at Happy. Both Natsu and Lucy rounded at the winged feline.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SCOUT THE GUILDHALL FIRST?!" shouted Lucy angrily.

"Seeing you here is pretty hypocritical, Lucy," stated Nero, getting Lucy's attention as he sheathed Red Queen and folded his arms across his chest, "'No amount of money is worth risking your life over', I believe those were your words."

Lucy shifted her gaze away timidly, "Well, you see, I..."

Natsu then stepped forward, his fists clenched and his face and overall features full of determination, "But it's not just about the money, man! We gotta do somethin' to prove ourselves! If we pull this thing off, then Gramps is sure to make us S-Class!"

"Or sure to get your asses thrown out of Fairy Tail," countered Nero sarcastically, figuring out that Makarov wouldn't mess around with jobs that are as dangerous as they sound.

Natsu was about to retort, but Nero just held up his left hand, stopping the Dragon Slayer before he could start. He hadn't known the Dragon Slayer for more than a day, but he already had a decent gauge of him. Natsu was the kind of person to break the rules, but only if he thought everything would work out in the end, and that nobody would get hurt. And he could relate to an extent.

Natsu cared about the people around him and wouldn't hurt them in any way, emotionally anyway. But from what he heard about S-Class quests from Mira, there's more than a chance he's in over his head with this.

Sighing, Nero turned to face Lucy. The young wizard looked at Nero for a moment in confusion and a little in fear. The hunter then extended his left hand, "Hand it over."

"But why...?" asked Happy, only to receive a cool glare from the demon hunter.

"So I can see just how half-assed you are and see how deep in shit you all are," answered Nero sharply.

Lucy, who was beginning to sweat from apprehension, looked at Natsu, who looked back at her with a serious expression and nodded, signaling her to hand the flier to Nero. Doing as she was told, Lucy handed the paper over to him, albeit, timidly. She was still incredibly nervous that he'd pull out either Red Queen or Blue Rose or whatever that spectral arm was and give her the same treatment as he gave Natsu in the afternoon.

Taking the paper from her, Nero began to read it over, immediately taking note of the bold "Help us" written right on the front. Below the words, a picture of an island with a few mountains was added. Beneath the picture was a description of the job itself, and if he was being honest, Nero was surprised and a bit concerned.

The job was a request for any wizard to come and lift the curse of a place called Galuna Island. There was a village on the island, and the people who resided in it had been afflicted by this curse for three whole years. A part of Nero thought that this wasn't any of his business, but a part of him couldn't let it go.

Something that had developed in his years spent with Kyrie; the need to help others who are in trouble. He couldn't find it in himself to ignore anyone who needed help, and these people had been suffering from this curse for a long time; longer than anyone should have to, that's for sure. Mirajane had informed him of how perilous these S-Class quests could be, and he still believed Natsu, Happy, and Lucy had no idea what they were getting into, but even so, he made a decision at that moment.

"Alright then..." said Nero as he closed his and let out a sigh.

"'Alright then'?" repeated Natsu, bewildered. He wasn't alone as Happy and Lucy looked at each other for a second before looking back at Nero.

"What's 'alright then'?" Happy questioned.

Lucy started trembling and squeaked, "Are you gonna try to take us back to the guild?"

"Contrary to what you might think, no I'm not taking you back..." stated Nero, as he opened his eyes and looked at the trio, "I'm going with you to that island."

For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was the chirping of crickets. Natsu, Lucy and Happy stared at Nero with blank expressions while his own serious look lessened into one of confusion. He thought they'd be relieved that he wasn't going to take them back. After all, he easily could. He retained this puzzled mien for a moment longer, until the trio's jaws dropped almost completely of their heads.

"WHAT?!" the trio shouted, shocked.

"Jeez, can you shout any louder?" snapped Nero as he held his ear, not appreciating the sudden cry of surprise. He wasn't prepared or did he expect them to react that way. Among the three of them, Lucy was the fastest to recover from the sudden shock.

"But why?" Lucy inquired, confused, "You're not even in a guild! Is that even allowed?"

"Little late to be asking that," retorted Nero before countering as he turned to her, "Besides, aren't you three breaking the rules by accepting this thing even though none of you are S-Class wizards?"

"I guess that's true." She admitted.

"Means the rule book has been thrown out, besides," continued Nero, "Not really me to ignore people who are suffering. I can be cold, but not that cold."

The three wizards looked at Nero with wide eyes. He looked at that job request, and immediately changed his attitude. However, what surprised them more was that it didn't seem like he even glanced at the reward, which was written in pretty big print at the bottom. Was he really only interested in this because he wanted to help the people of the island? That was what they wanted as well, but they still took note of what they'd receive in return.

"So you're not interested in the reward?" Happy asked.

Nero blinked, "Come again?"

The jaws of the wizarding team dropped yet again when they heard Nero say that. He really did only read the job description!

" _Yeah_ , the reward! At the bottom! You really didn't see it?! It's huge!" Lucy yelled.

Nero looked back at the flier, his attention going right to the bottom of the page, "7 million Jewel." The Demon hybrid obviously, never heard of the currency used in Fiore, or this world as a whole. So he could only assume it was worth a lot.

He also noticed that underneath the reward was the drawing of a key that said "Gold" next to it. He could only assume that meant in addition to seven million Jewel, the responding wizard would also receive a Golden Gate Key, like the ones Lucy has. That must be why she agreed to go along with the job.

"Jewels ain't gonna be much good to me, seeing as how I'm gonna figure out a way home sooner or later. Won't need it back in my universe," explained Nero, "besides, not really sure I can use that key, so the only use I could have for the Zodiac Key is a glorified paperweight."

Natsu cocked a brow and folded his arms, "So, what, you just wanna help the Islanders?"

"Gotta entertain myself somehow," responded Nero sarcastically, "But to be honest, yeah. Would be nice to get paid, something of change compared to my old job where I was in constant debt, but right now, it doesn't matter. Helping people who are in need...that's what I find important."

 _'That's what she would think is important,'_ thought Nero, his left hand unconscious gripping Devil Bringer by his wrist.

Yet again, the three Fairy Tail members were somewhat surprised by Nero's answer. He mentioned before that he helped people in his own universe and was paid as well, kind of like they did here, but they were still a little taken aback. He knew just as well as they did that S-Class quests were no walk in the park, but he accepted without giving it so much as a second thought, and for nothing more than to help the people of Galuna Island.

Natsu quickly adorned his face with a wide, confident grin, walked over to Nero, and placed his hand on the Demon Hunter's left shoulder. "That's what I'm talkin' about! Welcome to the team!"

"Might as well enjoy the company," interjected Nero as he brushed off the hand, "it won't last long."

* * *

 _-The Next Day-_

The next morning, in the Fairy Tail guild hall, Master Makarov sat down in his usual spot on top of the bar counter and was just about to start relaxing and enjoying his drink, when Mirajane came running down the stairs with an extremely worried look on her face.

"Master!" She folded her hands over her chest, "I don't know what's happened, but one of the S-Class quests is missing!"

For a moment, Makarov retained his calm and relaxed demeanor as he took a sip of his drink. However, he soon spat it out and spun around to face Mira in shock. "WHAT?!" he cried.

It was relatively quiet around the guild at this time of day, so just about everyone had heard what Mira just said, and all of them were surprised, to say the least.

"Say what? One of the jobs from the second floor is missin'?" Wakaba said in disbelief.

"But the jobs up there are S-Class quests. Anyone know who took off with it?" Macao asked.

Just as surprised as the others, a young girl spoke up as well. She was slim and of average height, with bowl-cut, lavender hair, with her fringe covering part of her forehead. She wore a dark red bow on the top of her head. In addition, she wore a whitish-blue coat with light blue lines on the arms and chest, which reached down below her waist, and had another red bow positioned below her turned over collar. She also sported tight-fitting, dark pants that were tucked into a pair of light-colored boots with dark soles. To top it all off, she wore a pair of simple glasses with oval lenses. This was Laki Olietta.

"Well, it's either someone really strong or really stupid." Laki commented.

Just then, the guild heard an all-too-familiar voice speak up from the upper floor of the guild hall, " _I_ know... A little blue cat flew up here and ripped it off the board."

Mirajane quickly turned to see Laxus on the second floor. He was sitting at a table with his feet propped up, his arms folded, and his eyes closed as he smirked to himself.

"It was Happy?" Mira gasped.

With Laxus's single remark, the entire guild began to mutter amongst themselves, some louder than others.

"He must've _stolen_ it for Natsu and Lucy!" Wakaba realized.

"That's crazy! What're they thinking?!" Macao exclaimed.

There was a pair of other wizards amongst the crowd who were also upset with this recent development.

One of them was a young man of average height. He had mildly long black hair that covered the right part of his face. His attire mirrored that of a fictional cowboy, save for the hat. His outfit consisted of a long, brown coat resembling a poncho with tasseled edges, together with a shirt and torn pants with strips similar to the ones on his coat hanging from their edges. He also had a studded belt with a skull-shaped buckle.

This was Alzack Connell. He was currently sitting at a table with a distasteful look on his face.

The individual leaning against a pillar nearby him was a young woman with long, straight green hair that reached down to her upper back. She had a set of long bangs framing her face and wore red lipstick. Her attire was similar to that of a fictional cowgirl, with a tan, Western-style hat. Around her neck was a white scarf with large, yellow polka-dots. She also wore a plain blue, strapless, one-piece dress with white edges.

This was Bisca Mulan, and she too wore a distasteful mien.

"They've got some nerve, taking on an S-Class quest," Alzack commented.

"I dunno if I'd call it nerve, but it's definitely dumb," Bisca remarked.

Laxus smirked, "And it wasn't just him who wandered outta here last night. Our guild's esteemed guest strolled right on after him."

Everyone's eyes nearly bulged out of their heads with that bit of information. No wonder they hadn't seen him around this morning. He wasn't even here!

"Nero went with them, as well?!" yelled Makarov, his eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Are you serious?!" Macao slapped his forehead, "Is that kid crazy?! He has no idea what kind of dangers an S-Class mission could have in store!"

"He doesn't even know anything about taking on regular jobs!" Laki mentioned.

"And he's going with Natsu and Lucy," Bisca inputted plainly.

"Who knows how many things could go wrong with that match-up," Alzack added.

"Takin' an S-Class quest without permission is a serious breach of the rules," Laxus smirked as he glanced down at Makarov, "Hey, Gramps! Stunt like that'll get yah kicked out of the guild, am I right?"

Makarov was simply standing on the bar counter with his arms folded, head lowered, and eyes closed, contemplating the situation as Laxus spoke.

"Not that it matters. It's not like those four losers are gonna make it back alive from an S-Class quest. One of 'em ain't even a member, to begin with," Laxus said nonchalantly.

Laxus's attention was drawn by Mirajane, who had climbed the stairs, and was staring angrily at the blond man with her hands placed firmly on her hips, "Which is all the more reason you should've stopped them!"

"Oh, lighten up," dismissed Laxus, "All I saw was a blue cat flyin' off with a piece of paper, tryin' to act all sneaky, before getting caught by the kid and questioned for about a minute before letting him go then following the cat. I had no idea it was Happy, and I figured there wasn't any trouble little Nero could get into wandering the town at night," he then turned to Mira, "Besides, Natsu's not cleared for S-Class. I never dreamed _he'd_ break the rules."

That was a lie, and everyone present knew it. Natsu was always finding new ways to aggravate everyone in the guild. This was just the latest and most severe way yet.

It was bad enough that the arrogant S-Class wizard let Happy fly off with the job in the first place, knowing full-well where he was going, but to let a guest of the guild go along with him was even worse. All of them could very well die on that mission, and not stopping them from going despite knowing the danger, was inexcusable, which Mirajane let him know by giving him a dark, menacing glare that could probably make even Nero pause for a second.

However, Laxus didn't seem fazed by Mirajane's growing anger with him, and simply chuckled, "You haven't given me _that_ look in a while..."

"This isn't good...," Makarov looked up at Mira. "Well, which job was it?"

Mirajane turned away from Laxus but was still glaring at him in her peripheral vision as she went on to answer Makarov's question, with Laxus giving her a snide smirk as she did so, "For lifting the curse on...Galuna Island..."

Makarov eyes widened from shock, "WHAT?!"

"Galuna Island?!" Macao and Wakaba shouted.

"Are they insane?!" Laki cried, alarmed.

"They're even dumber than we thought!" Alzack and Bisca remarked, just stunned as the others.

Everyone in the guild had begun to panic upon that revelation. None of the S-Class quests were particularly pleasant, but the Galuna Island job had been left untouched for a very good reason, with that reason being that no one who ever set out on that mission had ever returned from it.

Makarov hopped down from his seat on the bar counter and look up at Laxus, who simply sat there as he had been, practically carefree, "Laxus! Go and fetch them at once!"

"Yeah, right," Laxus replied, giving a dismissive wave, "I got better things to do, Gramps. And besides, everybody in Fairy Tail is supposed to be able to take care of themselves, right?"

"I don't care how you feel about Natsu!" Makarov shouted, losing his patience, "None of them realize what they're getting themselves into, especially Nero! The fact is, you're the only one strong enough to bring them back by force!"

Just then, Gray, who had remained silent this whole time, stood up from his seat behind Master Makarov, and turned to him, drawing the elderly wizard's attention, "Sorry, Master...but I'm afraid I gotta disagree with you."

* * *

 _-Elsewhere-_

With the new quartet, Nero, Natsu, Lucy and Happy had made good time, arriving at the seemingly picturesque and, in Nero's opinion, generic port town of Hargeon. It reminded Nero slightly of the docks back in Fortuna, if only more low tech. But it didn't really bother the demon hunter as they made their way through the town. Lucy had an unusually nostalgic smile on her face as they were walking.

"Wow, this brings back memories." Lucy commented. "It seems like only yesterday when we met here for the first time, Natsu."

That was fairly accurate. Along the way to Hargeon, Lucy had told Nero that she had been Fairy Tail's most recent addition, having joined about one to two weeks prior to his arrival.

She then told him the story of how she came to meet Natsu and Happy. A criminal named Bora was impersonating Natsu under the guise of the latter's epithet, "Salamander." This man was running a slave smuggling operation between Fiore and a country known as Bosco and had tricked Lucy into boarding his yacht that was bound for said country. She would've fallen victim to this illegal activity had Natsu and Happy, whom she'd met earlier that same day, not intervened.

Eventually, Natsu was revealed to be the real Salamander to both her and Bora, and the Dragon Slayer defeated the imposter, but not without destroying a large portion of the town in the process. Needless to say, Nero was a little surprised by the story, however, the end he totally expected.

"It practically was yesterday," Natsu retorted, "You don't have to get all mushy."

"Yeah, you sound like an old lady," Happy snickered.

Happy's comment earned him an angry glare from Lucy, though it did little to temper his internal laughter. It didn't take long for Lucy to resume her chipper attitude, however.

"Well, let's go find a boat that'll take us to Galuna," Lucy said.

Natsu instantly grew a panicked expression when he heard Lucy mention a boat, "ARE YOU CRAZY?! Forget the boat! Why can't we just _swim_ for it?!"

"Because why swim nearly a hundred miles when we can take a boat which is faster," rebuked Nero, knowing the Dragon Slayer's crippling weakness was motion sickness. A boat, or any vessel for that matter, would almost instantly set off his sickness like it did yesterday on the train.

Lucy sighed, exasperated, "And you think _I'm_ the one who's crazy?"

"Even if he did try, he wouldn't even find it," added the Demon Hunter, "Pretty sure none of us even knows where this island is. Plus, he'd drown before get anywhere close."

"Nero's right, Natsu," agreed Lucy, "Like it or not, we need someone to take us to the island, and a boat's the only way to do that."

Natsu simply sighed in defeat and followed Lucy and Nero as they made their way to the docks. It would appear that finding someone who was willing to take them to the island was easier said than done. All of the sailors and fishermen they had asked about it had instantly turned them down the moment they mentioned Galuna, with one man claiming it was bad luck to even mention the cursed island.

After some time, Lucy and Happy where beginning to lose hope and Nero was increasingly getting annoyed, all the while Natsu's grin had been growing ever so slowly after each failed attempt. Nero took notice of this and sent the Dragon Slayer a glare, but said nothing about it.

It appeared Natsu actually did want to swim to the island, as crazy as it sounded.

Eventually, the group came upon a sailor with black hair, who wore a blue cap on his head, and a pale green cloak with a white t-shirt underneath as well as dark pants. He had slightly darkish-colored skin and a mustache that descended around his mouth and chin. He was sitting in his boat when the team had asked him to take them to Galuna.

"Don't know why you'd wanna go there, but no sailor worthh his salt's gonna take ya to Galuna. Not even pirates'll go near that place."

The group had been asking sailors and fishermen all over Hargeon for half the day and was more than a little frustrated, save for Natsu and Happy, who simply folded his arms with a grin on his face.

"Are you serious...?" Lucy inquired, feeling completely defeated.

"All these sailors are a bunch spineless cowards," seethed Nero as he folded his arms.

"It looks like we're gonna be swimmin' after all!" Natsu grinned.

"Sure does!" Happy chimed.

Lucy spun around to Natsu and Happy angrily, "WE'RE NOT SWIMMING, NATSU!"

Just then, both Natsu and Lucy felt someone place their hands on their right and left shoulders respectively, "I found you...!" a voice said.

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Natsu and Lucy both jumped and spun around to face the owner while Nero turned calmly. Behind them with a triumphant smirk on his face was none other than Gray.

"It's Gray!" Lucy said, stunned.

"What're _you_ doin' here?!" Natsu demanded, surprised and frustrated.

Gray turned to Natsu, annoyed, "Gramps found out about your harebrained scheme and sent me to bring yah back."

Natsu's eyes widen in shock, his jaw dropped, "Why?! We're not in danger yet!"

"If yah come back now, yah _might_ avoid being kicked out of the guild. _Maybe,_ " Gray answered.

Upon hearing that, Lucy placed her hands on her face as she adorned an apprehensive mien. That was definitely not what she was expecting, nor was it something she wanted to hear.

"Kicked out?!" she shrieked.

Hearing Gray mention that Natsu and Lucy might get kicked out of the guild made Nero feel a twinge of guilt. Sure, he figured they might get into trouble for going on an S-Class quest, whilst lacking the proper qualification, but being kicked out? Even though he entertained the idea of getting thrown out, that seemed like a little much, plus, the way Makarov described Fairy Tail made it sound like a close family. Getting thrown out would basically be the equivalent of a parent disowning his or her own child.

"Didn't think the trouble you'd get into would be this steep," commented Nero as he folded his arms, "If I were you, I'd head back."

Natsu's expression became determined as he got into Gray's face. Though they all heard what Nero said, none of them seemed to notice that he never mentioned what he would do in that statement.

Natsu gritted his teeth and said, "I don't care! I'm goin' on this S-Class quest!"

"Man, you're way out of your league here," stated Gray as he narrowed his eyes, but that look turned when his face became grave. A thought had entered his mind, which he didn't hesitate to share with the group," When Erza finds out about this, she's gonna be _so_ angry..."

While the threat of being kicked out of Fairy Tail might not have frightened Natsu, the thought of an angry Erza most certainly did; so much so that the Dragon Slayer, Lucy, and Happy as well began to sweat in apprehension.

"Uh-oh..." was all the three wizards could say at the threat.

"Still don't get why everyone's afraid of her," muttered Nero to himself. She was one person.

On the way to Hargeon, Nero had asked Lucy and Happy about it while Natsu chucked his breakfast out of the train again. Only Happy was willing to tell him about her, strangely enough. He told him that Erza, as an S-Class wizard, was incredibly strong, but unlike the other S-Class wizards, she would actually get into fights with the other members on occasion like she did with Natsu a few days before Nero's arrival in this world.

He noted her magic as being pretty, saying that it makes her enemies "bleed, a lot," but never specified exactly what it was. He then concluded by explaining that she would almost always have to hold back during a fight with another member as she could very easily hurt them or damage other people's property by accident.

After hearing Happy's explanation, Nero was once again impressed by Erza. That meant that she could not only defeat just about every individual member in the guild, but she could hold back while doing it.

However, in his mind, that still didn't quite answer the question of why they were all so afraid of her. Sure, she was powerful, but that didn't mean shit to Nero. She seemed very pleasant during the short time they spoke.

The demon hunter was snapped out of his musings when Happy flew over behind Gray's shoulder. "Please, Gray, you gotta save me! I told them this was a bad idea but they forced me to come along!"

"YOU ARE SUCH A LIAR!" Lucy yelled furiously.

Natsu's determination was strengthening by the second as he glared at Gray, ignoring both Happy and Lucy, "I've gotta prove my power to Gramps!" He clenched his fists, "So, like it or not, I'm doin' this!"

Gray placed his hands on his hips, getting into Natsu's face, "Master ordered me to bring you home! I'll drag you back to Fairy Tail if I have to!"

With that, an icy mist began to form around Gray's hand, and a second later, a cluster of ice spikes grew around his hand; much to Nero's intrigue and wonder. It reminded him of a Frost's spiked knuckles, however, not as large. Since he'd arrived at Fairy Tail, he'd never seen Gray's magic before, nor had he heard what it was, surprisingly. He hadn't expected it to be ice-oriented.

"Don't make me hurt you, buddy!" Gray threatened.

Natsu quickly ignited his left fist in flames as he continued to glare at Gray, "I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU _TRY_!" he challenged.

When the two wizards broke out their magic, the sailor on the boat looked surprised as he spoke to himself quietly, "Magic...?" Before any kind of fight could break out between the fire and ice wielders, the sailor stood up in his boat and spoke up, catching everyone's attention, "Excuse me, but are you wizards? Have you come to lift the curse on the island?"

Natsu, now distracted from his would-be fight with Gray, grinned confidently and put away his flames as he turned to the sailor. Lucy, however, was not quite as chipper as she was earlier, her confidence now wavering from the threat of being expelled from Fairy Tail. However, the second the sailor spoke, Nero had felt Devil Bringer begin to pulse, faintly.

"Yeah!" Natsu replied.

"Well, maybe..." Lucy said nervously.

"Not gonna happen!" Gray uttered through gritted teeth.

The sailor simply stared at the wizards and demon hunter for a second, a somewhat surprised and shocked expression on his face and in his eyes, but it didn't look disbelief. After a minute or so, the man composed himself before gesturing to his boat, "Get in."

"What?" the Celestial Spirit wizard said, surprised.

"Seriously?!" Natsu added.

The group was surprised the sailor had changed his mind so quickly upon learning they were there to save the island. However, Gray was not so much surprised as he was still angry with Natsu, "No way!" he exclaimed.

Gray moved in to grab Natsu, but the Dragon Slayer simply grinned devilishly and delivered a powerful backward kick to Gray's stomach, effectively knocking the wind out of him, and rendering him unable to move or speak. Natsu lifted the ice wizard up over his right shoulder and turned to the sailor with a smirk on his face.

"There we go. Ready when you are, sir," Natsu proclaimed.

"Would be easier to leave him here," suggested Nero, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm not sure if bringing him with us is such a good idea." Lucy inputted.

Natsu turned to the Celestial Spirit mage and demon hunter, and countered, "We can't let him go back and tell the guild," He then began to tremble and sweat as his mien quickly became one of trepidation, "'Cause the next person they'll send is Erza!"

Under the threat of Erza coming for them, Lucy and Happy's demeanors practically mirrored Natsu's. Without another word, the Celestial Wizard and flying cat both piled into the boat with Natsu hopping in after tossing Gray in. Nero followed but was still left with the question of what exactly Erza was capable of.

"Still don't see why you're so afraid of her," said Nero under his breath as he boarded the boat, but he didn't forget that feeling Devil Bringer brought.

* * *

 _-1 hour later-_

The first hour into their journey, aboard the boat, was spent in silence, the captain refusing to say a word until they were closer to their destination. By that time, the sun had gone down, and the night air had cooled and was starting to kick in. Also, around that time, Gray had recovered from Natsu's sudden attack but was tied up to prevent him from using his magic by the Dragon Slayer. Something Gray was none too pleased about.

Natsu, meanwhile, was emptying the contents of his stomach over the side railing, motion sickness being the culprit. Lucy was becoming a bit more confident as they progressed more into their trip. Happy as well, true to his name, happy.

As the minutes of silence ticked by, Nero was currently thinking to himself about one thing in particular, or more accurately, someone in particular: Erza Scarlet. After hearing so much about her, he was extremely curious as to what she was capable of. Having heard enough to know what everyone's else's abilities were on the supposed "strongest team in Fairy Tail," but so far, he hadn't heard anything about Erza's. But he kept that feeling he had back at the dock in the back of his head.

Looking for an answer, he turned to Happy, who was sitting about right next to him, on the bow of the boat, making sure to keep his voice low and not disturb the captain, "Hey, Happy."

Happy turned to the teen hybrid demon, "Huh?"

"You talked about Erza's magic earlier..." began Nero.

The blue feline tilted his head in confusion. "What about it?"

"Didn't explain what it was to me," elaborated Nero, "Just curious to know who she makes her enemies 'bleed'."

"Oh! That's easy. Erza uses a type of magic called Re-Quip," She explained, "She can use it to pull all sorts of weapons out of her own pocket dimension, like swords and axes and stuff!"

"Huh," said Nero, a little intrigued, _'Guess that explains the 'bleeding' thing he said earlier... Kinda makes her like Pandora.'_

"So, that's why everyone's always walking around on eggshells when she's around?" guessed Nero, picking up where he left off, "Because she can summon swords? I mean, Lucy can summon a giant cow-man with a battle ax and no one bats an eye at _that_."

Happy shook his head and clarified, "Nuh-uh. Lots of wizards can use Re-Quip Magic to change weapons, but Erza's biggest strength is that she can change her armor too! It's a unique ability that only she possesses. It's called 'The Knight'."

Nero was definitely surprised by this new information. He wondered why she was always decked out in armor, and now he understood. However, there was one question that Happy's explanation brought to the surface of Nero's mind.

"Her armors able to do anything?" he wondered, "Or are they just for show?"

"Yup!" the blue cat replied, "She has a bunch of different kinds of armor, and most of them give her special powers and magic!"

Nero thought about that for a second, before snorting in amusement. He made the joke that with all his weapons, Devil Arms, and seemingly bottomless pockets, that Dante was basically an armory that talks too much and is in constant debt. Something Trish, Patty, and Lady found funny, Dante not so much. Though, this did raise the question of how many of these armors she had.

He decided against asking Happy though. He highly doubted the blue feline would have an answer. He'd have to ask her himself some time.

After that, several more minutes went by in silence, and in that time, the sky had grown noticeably darker, which only made Lucy even more unsettled, "Okay, now I'm starting to get scared..." she said shakily.

"Well look on the bright side, at least you're not tied up!" Gray retorted. He then turned his attention to the captain of their little voyage, still angered and irritated by the fact that he was now tied up, but still equally angry about his friends' insistence on breaking the guild's rules, "This is your fault too, buddy! Why'd you decide to let us on?!"

The sailor, who had remained silent the entire trip and had been focusing on a small, glowing orb at the back of the boat, turned to Gray with a neutral expression, "The name is Bobo, and if you must know, I used to be a citizen of Galuna Island."

"Meaning..." cut in Nero, wanting an answer for what he meant by 'used to be'.

Bobo didn't respond to Nero for a moment, much to the hunter's confusion and annoyance. Bobo's expression grew darker as he turned to face the sea, "But I had to flee... I just couldn't take it anymore," He turned to the group, "I should warn you. Tragedy befalls anyone who sets foot on the island. There's no avoiding it. That is unless you're able to lift the curse."

After a second pause, Bobo shifted his cloak and exposed his left arm; however, it was unlike anything they had expected, especially Nero. It appeared to be covered in a bizarre, dark purple exoskeleton. Whatever it was, it clearly wasn't human.

"...This vile demon's curse," Bobo concluded.

"Woah, your arm..." Gray gasped.

"What happened to it?" Lucy asked, shocked.

Nero said nothing, his own arm going immediately to Devil Bringer. His expression portraying total shock. He never thought he'd see something like this. For as long as he knew, only he had that trait, being the only quarter demon-human hybrid. To see this... it threw him completely through a loop.

Again, without replying, the cursed sailor took a look ahead of the boat and saw an island coming into view, "We're almost there. That's Galuna Island..."

For a second, the wizards and superhero gawked at the island in curiosity and minor apprehension, until Lucy broke the silence by asking the question that was on everybody's mind.

"That's weird. Why's the mountaintop glowing like that?" she observed.

Sure enough, Lucy was right. The mountain on the island had a golden, yet ominous glow shining from it. Simply looking at it made Nero's expression harden, and if he was being honest, Devil Bringer began pulsing more. The entire island, it felt unnatural, like something on it was off. Then again, living there had given poor Bobo the arm of some kind of humanoid insect, so there was undoubtedly something sinister there.

Nero held his wrist. He needed more answers. Turning back around to Bobo, the demon hunter was about to ask more. However, when he did look back, the cursed man had vanished.

"What the hell!?" shouted Nero, his voicing portraying alarm.

Everyone turned to see what the commotion was about, only to be just as shocked as Nero by their guide's disappearance.

"Where'd he go?!" Lucy said fearfully.

"Did he fall out?" Gray wondered, equally confused as the others.

"It's like he disappeared into thin air!" Happy remarked.

As Natsu gurgled from motion sickness, unaware of the current situation, Lucy began to hear something as she looked over the edge of the boat, but couldn't place her finger on what it was, "What's that sound?" she voiced.

Nero heard it as well but came to quicker conclusion that whatever it was, it was coming up from behind them. Spinning around, Nero saw what it was, but immediately adopted a shocked expression by what it was: a titanic sized rogue wave was heading right for them.

"We've got a problem!" shouted the hunter.

Everyone turned to Nero, but their eyes widened in shock and fear upon seeing the massive wave. Even Natsu, who was still visibly sick, looked startled by the incoming wave.

"AAAAAHHH! TSUNAMIII!" cried Lucy.

"Now don't panic! Just hold on!" Gray yelled.

The group grew more fearful by the second as the wave began to come down on them, forming a whirlpool beneath all the while.

"Happy! Can't you grab onto the boat and fly?!" Lucy asked in the midst of her panic.

"I'M NOT STRONG ENOUGH!" Happy replied.

"Well shit," deadpanned Nero, a not a second later, the rogue wave broke over them, smashing into the small wooden boat and casting everyone into the whirlpool just below.

* * *

 _-Later-_

"Shit...," groaned Nero as he felt his eyes began to flicker open, the sounds of birds chirping entering his ears. Upon opening his eyes, Nero raised his hand to shield them from the bright sun. Giving his eyes time to adjust, he sat up before looking around, still dazed to an extent, but was able to figure out he was on some sort of beach, "What the hell happened?"

Taking a second to collect himself, Nero stood up and began brushing the sand off. It was daytime, he must've been knocked unconscious for a while. However, it didn't take him long to realize he was alone; Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Happy were nowhere to be found.

"Wait...," he said to himself, looking up and down the beach, "where is everyone?"

Standing there for a moment, he began to remember the events prior to his awakening here on the beach. How he and the others got blindsided by a massive rogue wave.

 _'Rogue wave comes out of nowhere...,'_ thought Nero grimly, _'Yeah, there's something definitely wrong with this place...'_

"In more ways than one," said Nero aloud to himself, looking down at Devil Bringer. His glove was still on, but his fingertips were exposed, and he could definitely see that it was reacting to something here. That being said, the chance of demons was much higher, the only question was, are they like his demons, or are they something different?

One way or another, standing around wasn't going to help find his friends. If he was lucky, they might be close by. Or at least that's what he hoped.

"Well, not gonna accomplish anything standing here," stated Nero as he picked a random direction along the beach and began to head up. Since he was part demon, he recovered much faster, so if Natsu or the others had been washed up, he'd find them unconscious along the beach.

As he was walking, Nero felt Devil Bringer pulse again, like it was trying to tell him something. But what?

* * *

 _-Elsewhere-_

There she was; Lucy, lying unconscious on a beach. Her eyes began to flutter open slowly at the sound of a voice. At first, she didn't recognize it; not Natsu's, not Gray's, and definitely not Happy's.

"Lucy!" shouted the voice, it sounded vaguely familiar.

 _'Wait...is that...'_ thought Lucy, though somewhat still dazed.

"Anyone?!" shouted the voice again.

 _'Nero...?'_ she wondered, forcing herself to try and wake up faster.

"Hello?!" With all the shouting, Lucy was finally able to get enough awareness.

She finally opened her eyes, and more or less, propped herself up on her elbows and angled her head up. She was still more or less out of it, but elevating herself did catch the attention of the owner of the voice.

"Lucy!" shouted the voice, much closer.

"N-Nero?" asked the blonde as she cleared some blurriness from her eyes. Upon doing so, she saw the silver-haired young adult jogging over to her and knelt down beside her to help her up

"You good?" asked the hunter as he helped her to her feet, extending a hand.

"Yeah, I think so..." Lucy accepted Nero's hand and used it to pull herself off the ground.

"Good to hear," said Nero in some relief, "You know where the others are?"

"I don't know...," Lucy replied. She then took a look around. After a few moments had passed, Lucy looked over Nero's shoulder, and saw something, "Wait..."

Following her gaze, Nero saw where she was looking. It appeared to be three figures; two of them lying on the ground unconscious, and the other, smaller one, with its rear end and its furry, blue tail sticking out of the sand. He immediately recognized the trio as Natsu, Gray, and Happy. The wreckage of the boat they had been traveling in could be seen strewn about the beach.

"What a mess...," Lucy muttered as she and Nero made their way to their friends, who each had already begun coming around and were waking up.

After several minutes, Natsu and Gray were fully awake, and the latter had helped Happy get his head out of the sand, and proceeded to pick up his backpack and sleeping bag. Nero just closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he wasn't a fan of watching people get hurt, especially when he was around, so finding out that everyone was more or less okay took some weight from his shoulders.

"Looks like we made it, you guys!" Natsu noted; an excited grin on his face.

"We're lucky that wave washed us ashore," Lucy added.

"Well, I don't know if I would call it lucky," Gray commented sourly.

"So you'd prefer to be dead?" deadpanned Nero sarcastically, earning a glare from Gray.

"I can't help but wonder what happened to the guy who brought us here..." Lucy stated, worried about the sailor.

"Yeah. Right after Bobo told us about the curse, he vanished..." picked up Nero, recalling what happened.

"Forget about that stuff for now and let's go exploring!" Natsu yelled, flailing his arms in the air excitedly.

"Aye!" Happy chirped.

Lucy could only sweat drop at her two friends' attitudes. "We've been here like thirty seconds, and you guys have already forgotten about the mission?"

Nero just growled. They were on a job, they needed to be focused.

After a moment, Lucy proceeded to pull out the job request that brought them here in the first place. Natsu and Happy regained their composure and began to focus on the task at hand once again.

"Apparently there's only one village on the entire island. The village chief is the one who originally put in the request. So I guess we need to try and find him."

"Not so fast...," Everyone turned to see Gray, staring at them with a serious expression.

"You serious thinking of taking these guys back to the guild?" demanded Nero incredulously, "I don't know if it's escaped your notice, but in order to do that, you need a boat. And the only one we had is in a thousand pieces along the beach."

"You're right...," Gray said, "I'm comin' with you."

That was a surprise for everyone, especially for Natsu, Happy, and Lucy. First Nero had agreed to tag along, and now Gray?

"There's no way I'm gonna let the two of you clowns make S-Class before I do." Gray stated plainly, "And if you were kicked out, the guild would be pretty boring. Gramps'll be upset, but if we pull this off, he won't stay mad at us for long."

"Anything about me?" asked Nero, folding his arms and narrowing his eyes.

Gray shrugged. "He thinks you have no idea how to handle this world, but seein' how you took down flame-brain over there, and the fact that you obviously got experience under your belt, I think you can handle a cursed island."

The Ice-Make wizard grinned confidently, "Let's go."

Natsu and Lucy smiled while Happy jumped in excitement. "Yeah!" shouted the former two, while their blue, feline companion yelled, "Aye!"

"About time you guys agreed on something," commented Nero as a grin formed, "We better get moving."

 ** _To Be Continued..._**


	5. Chapter 5 Galuna Island Part 2

_**Okay, chapter 2. Hope you all are enjoying, one of you certainly is. Anyway, if you have any suggestions for Nero, like what a good chapter plot would be, have any demons from his world appear and Nero shows Fairy Tail just how much a hunter he can be, or just continue with the canon. Send me a PM if you want, reviews work too, and I hope you're all enjoying the story.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**_

* * *

 _ **Devil Tail**_

 _ **Chapter 5: Galuna Island Part 2**_

"Wondering if there was a village at all," commented Nero, his usual sarcastic tone never wavering.

The group of wizards and the demon hunter had been making their way through the jungle of Galuna Island. For the most part, spending around an hour or two searching for the village that was supposedly here, Nero, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Happy finally arrived at the village. But at the moment, none of them knew what to expect about the village, especially know that night had fallen and visibility was reduced to a couple yards. It also didn't help that the villagers within also put up a massive wall using thick logs with the ends sharpened into points. On the main gate, and despite the low light, Nero was able to make out a sign, the famous two words: _'Keep out'_ , written on it.

"Well, we found the village," Gray noted.

"Check out that gate…," Natsu remarked, "When they say 'Keep Out' they mean it."

"Hasn't stopped you from breaking into Lucy's apartment," commented Nero sarcastically, though he turned serious, or about as serious as he was on jobs. He might not be a wizard, so he was gonna let the others handle it their way while he handles it his way, "We knock or is there a doorbell?"

Lucy answered by stepping forward and yelling out, "Is anyone there!? We came to help you!"

The only answer they received was silence.

"Let's bust in," Natsu said, an impish grin on his face.

"No way!" Lucy yelled at him.

"Great idea; break into the place you want to help," drawled Nero as he gave the Dragon Slayer a deadpanned look, "that's sure to get you on their good side."

Finally, a voice called out from the top of the wall, "Who goes there?"

The group looked up to see two guards staring down at them.

"We're wizards from Fairy Tail," Lucy answered, "We're responding to your request!"

"Why weren't we notified that you'd accepted the request?" the voice asked suspiciously.

 _'Considering everything about this place, guys' gotta right to be suspicious,'_ thought Nero, digging Devil Bringer further into his pocket. Ever since they arrived on this rock, the thing hasn't stopped glowing and the feeling of something here only grew the further they went into the island. And to be technical, the wizards present with him _had_ taken the job, despite the rules.

Lucy tried to come up with a reason, but Gray beat her to the punch, and called out, "There was probably just a mix-up with the paperwork!"

"Nice," commented Nero, quietly as she shifted in his spot.

"Then let me see your guild emblems," the lookout challenged, "right now!"

Natsu moved his scarf, which had partially concealed his red guild mark on his right shoulder. Happy shifted his knapsack to reveal his green mark on his back. Gray lifted his shirt to show his blue emblem on the right side of his chest. Lastly, Lucy showed the pink emblem on the back of her right hand.

Needless to say, the guards were stunned. Those emblems were legit!

"They're here...," the lookouts stammered in shock, "They're really here!"

The sentry was about to open the gate immediately but stopped when he had noticed a certain person in the group had not shown them any guild mark.

"Wait…that proves who you are," one of the guards replied, "but what about him?" Even without seeing him, Nero knew exactly who they were talking. Plus, the guy pointed right at him.

"I'm with them," spoke up, Nero, beating Natsu before the pink-haired wizard could snap, "guy's gotta make money somehow. From what I've heard, doesn't sound like you're in any position to turn down the extra help, right?"

The sentry didn't really have an answer to that; after all, with the situation the village was in, they'd need all the help they can get. Nero relaxed slightly as the gate soon began to open. However, Devil Bringer suddenly began to pulse, causing the Demon Hunter to frown. Glancing down at his pocket, he could just barely make out the faintest of glows. It was so low that no one would notice, but Nero knew better as he held his hand in his pocket.

"It's like we're walking into a giant monster's mouth." Happy commented, noting how the pointed ends of the gate resembled sharp teeth.

"Are you trying to freak me out…?" Lucy said, annoyed.

The group stepped forward, only to be greeted by a large crowd of people wearing cloaks, hoods, and cloth across their faces, concealing almost all of their features.

Nero gave the villagers a wary look, his left hand hovering close to Blue Rose. Devil Bringer pulsed again, almost beckoning him to let it out. However, Nero decided against it and held it in his pocket.

"I am Moka, the village chief," the lead figure said, leaning on a staff with a crescent moon on the top, "and on behalf of everyone here, I welcome you. Pleasantries aside, there's something you need to see; now, my people!"

The villagers as one dropped their cloaks, and for a moment, Nero's hand instinctively went right to the handle of Blue Rose, assuming they'd attack. However, he froze before he could even wrap his index finger around the trigger, as did the rest of the group. The wizards and demon hunter were greeted by a familiar, yet disturbing, sight.

The villagers, for the most part, appeared human, but no one didn't have a monstrous appendage. Ranging from scaly arms with clawed fingers, bestial legs tipped with talons, even horns; not a person was unaffected by the curse, even the children weren't spared from its viel changes.

"It's just like the guy on the boat," Gray murmured.

Nero said nothing, his left hand immediately gripping his wrist. This was all too, bizarre for the lack of a better word for the demon hunter. Seeing these people, like this, it made him wonder what kind of demons this world had that they could do _this_ to people. Granted, the demons in his world could be much more gruesome in their torture.

Natsu, on the other hand, noticed something else. "Oh, wow, your sideburns are huge!" he pointed at the sideburns on the elderly chief's face, which stretched down to his waist.

"Real professional," deadpanned Nero, momentarily foregoing his own unease and the feeling of Devil Bringer to glare at Natsu.

"Not that!" Moka snapped, "I meant my arm!" he held up his purple, clawed arm for emphasis, "Everyone on the island is suffering a disfigurement because of this curse; not even the animals are unaffected."

"Ever think it might be a disease?" asked Nero, "no offense."

"We've consulted with dozens of doctors, young man," Moka said wearily, "But every one of them says that no such disease exists."

Nero nodded, while Devil Bringer said that there was some sort of demonic presence here, he needed to hear a confirmation from the locals. The feeling of Devil Bringer pulsing irked the Demon Hunter slightly. It only really did this when powerful demons, or Devils, are nearby.

"Any idea of how this started?" questioned Nero, wanting all the details, or as many details as the villagers were willing to give.

"It all started when the moon fell under an evil spell," began the chief, picking up where he left off.

"An evil spell?" repeated Lucy, wanting to be sure she heard him correctly.

"Since ancient times, this island has absorbed the light of the moon, causing it to glow almost as beautifully as the moon itself." Moka's voice turned fearful. "However, three years ago, the moon's light turned purple and bathed the island in an eerie glow."

"Hey, everyone!" Happy called out, pointing up, "The moon is coming out from behind the clouds!"

The wizards and demon hunter looked up to see that the light of the moon that came down was indeed a creepy shade of purple.

"Stand back," Moka warned, "the change is upon us!"

Before anyone could ask what he meant, all of the villagers began to convulse, moaning in absolute agony. Their bodies began to shift, scales, fur, and spikes covering them; now, instead of a single area of their bodies. Nero instinctively went to Blue Rose and held the handle, waiting for the worst. Watching them change, it wasn't anything like when a Holy Knight or even Credo and Agnus went through thanks to the Ascension Ceremony. Theirs was instantaneous whereas the villagers, it took time and was forceful.

"I am sorry if our appearance frightens you," Moka apologized. He was now sporting purple, scaly skin, as well as fangs, pointed ears and a pair of horns.

"Not the worst thing I've ever seen," said Nero as he released his grip of Blue Rose, but kept his hand near it just in case, "I've fought monsters directly out of nightmares."

"These poor people," Lucy whispered.

"Oh man," Natsu muttered, before his face suddenly brightened, "YOU GUYS LOOK SO COOL!"

Everyone else could only stare at him in disbelief while he started to gush about how awesome they looked, at least, in his mind.

"Huh…?" everyone uttered, dumbfounded.

"He said we looked cool…," a male villager repeated in shock.

"No one's ever said that about us before…," a female villager said.

"Natsu!" Lucy slapped him upside the head, "That's insensitive! They don't want to be like this!"

"Really?" Natsu asked, confused, "Well, sorry about that. I guess we should help them out."

"Why else are we here?" demanded Nero as he glared at the Dragon Slayer, "I'm surprised you're able to complete any job if your attention span is this short."

"Get a clue, man," Gray said, equally exasperated.

"Anyway, as you can see," Moka said, trying to get everyone back on track, "whenever the moon comes out, everyone in the village takes on the form of a demon. If this isn't a curse, then what is it? We return to normal when the sun rises; however, there are some among us who lose their minds and never change back. The only thing we can do for those poor souls is to put them to death."

The others were shocked. This wasn't just a curse that changed how they looked; it drove them insane and made them dangerous enough to force the villagers to kill them!

 _'Guess this why they begged for help,'_ thought Nero as it soon became clear. The if villagers were fine mentally, then its more than likely they wouldn't be as desperate for help as possible. If the people had full control over themselves, the curse would be more of an inconvenience. But people lose themselves and the others had to put him or her down for the safety of the others.

"But they might get better someday!" Natsu protested.

"If they do that, then it's like there won't be anyone left alive by that time," corrected Nero grimly, seeing where this was going.

"He is correct," Moka confirmed sadly, "We've tried to capture them, but they always break free," Tears began falling from the old man's eyes as he pulled out a photograph, "There is no way to reverse it. This curse has forced me to take the life of my own son."

Shoulders shaking in grief, Moka let the photograph fall to the ground, letting the others see a picture of a man with wide eyes, a mustache and goatee, and a bandana on his head.

"That's the guy who took us here on the boat!" Lucy said softly, "We just saw him yesterday and…"

"Shh!" Gray interrupted and whispered, "now I understand why he just disappeared like that. He's dead, but his soul couldn't rest in peace."

 _'A ghost…'_ Lucy thought, beginning to panic.

Nero narrowed his eyes; magic as a starter, then a cursed island, now ghosts? He knew better than to write off ghosts seeing his line of work. Hearing even more about this world just makes him feel even more out of place on this rock.

Moka picked up the photo, then gave the group a low bow.

"Please lift the curse," he begged, "If you do not, it is only a matter of time before we fall victim to it and die!"

"We won't let that happen!" Natsu shouted, then lowered his voice when Moka looked at him, "We're going to fix this, I promise."

Everyone else in the group nodded in agreement. Silently, Nero made a promise to see to it that this curse was ended. Being a demon is no walk in the park. And from the looks of things, these people have suffered long enough. More than a few people have lost their lives and themselves, no more.

"There is only one way to lift the curse," stated Moka, "The moon… the moon must be wiped from the sky!"

 _'Wait what?'_ Thought Nero. Turns out this job was gonna be a lot more difficult than he originally thought.

* * *

Taken off guard by the request of Moka, the Wizards were understandly surprised by such a big request, while the Demon Hunter just pinched the area between his eyes in exasperation; he was a demon hunter and they were wizards, no miracle workers. But even still, they were ushered into a small hut, away from the purple light. All of the wizards were thinking the same exact thing: did they really have to destroy the moon?

"I never knew the moon could be so creepy," Happy said sadly.

"Hurry up and close the window!" Lucy shouted, "You heard the chief; we have to stay out of the moonlight! You may not care, but I don't wanna risk turning into some freaky monster!"

"I'm not so sure about this job, guys," Natsu said, looking more irritated than worried.

"How can these people expect us to destroy the moon?" Gray asked.

"I wonder how many punches it would take?" Natsu wondered, raising a fist, "You think I can handle it?"

"Natsu, you're insane if you think you can destroy the moon," sighed Nero as he leaned against one of the walls within the hut, his arms crossed. At this point, he was beginning to wonder if Natsu was just stubbornly determined or just stupid. And from where things had started, he was leaning towards stupid.

"For real," Gray agreed, "don't be stupid, man!"

"Natsu, there isn't a wizard strong enough who could do that," Lucy said, shaking her head.

"But that's what we were hired to do!" Natsu objected, "If we back out, it'll make Fairy Tail look bad!"

"What they're asking can't be done!" Gray countered, and then asked, "How were you planning to get to the moon anyway?"

"With Happy, of course," Natsu said, pointing at the cat.

"Huh!?" Happy shook his head, "I don't think so."

"Even if he could fly you there, you'd likely die of lack of air," added Nero bluntly, before pushing off the wall and began pacing, "but I've got a feeling that it's something else that's the cause for the curse."

"How do you know?" Asked Lucy, looking at the white-haired hunter.

"Guy said it was a demon's curse," reminded Nero as he smirked at the wizard, "dealing with demons is what I do for a living. Also, we won't need to destroy the moon. The request asked us to end the curse, never said how. And since they haven't given a lot of detail, I'm guessing these guys are only assuming it's the moon. Mean it can be something."

"Yeah," Lucy agreed, "I'll bet that if we do some investigating around the island, we'll find the real source of the curse and stop it."

Anything else Lucy might have said was interrupted when Gray threw his shirt at her face. Nero just groaned and facepalmed; he'd admit, it was impressive how fast Gray could strip, but it was weird and annoying as hell. The Ice-Make wizard had stripped down to his boxers and the silver necklace he wore in less time than it took to blink.

"You kids can do what you want," Gray remarked as he pulled his socks off, "but after the day I've had, I need some shut eye."

"Please don't take off any more…" Lucy pleaded, a sweat drop running down her head.

"Yeah, our investigation starts tomorrow morning," Natsu added, and then jumped onto the sleeping mats that the villagers had laid out for them, "Let's hit the sack!"

Happy jumped face-first onto the pillow, "Aye, sir!" came his muffled cry.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Gray replied, lying on his sleeping mat face-down.

"Damn straight," agreed Nero as he head to his own mat which was placed by the wall of the hut. It had been a while since he got a decent night's rest, having trouble since...

 _'No,'_ thought Nero, not wanting to remember, _'I'm going back there. Not again.'_

Sitting down on the mat and leaning against the wall, Nero kept his coat on, despite the hard surface. Once settled, he closed his eyes, allowing his breathing to steady and slow, falling into blissful sleep. However, despite quickly succumbing to rest, Nero's sleep was anything but blissful, Devil Bringer occasionally pulsing.

There was something to this island, besides the obvious curse. But perhaps a little of that, because somehow, the magical properties of the cruse seemed familiar. Like, demon magic from his world...

* * *

 _*8 Hours Later*_

After a somewhat restless sleep, Nero managed to get enough to feel at least refreshed. That being said, he wasn't exactly a happy camper when the team decided to wake up early in the morning and begin the search for the cause of the curse. That being said, he wasn't the only one who looked like he could use a few extra hours of sleep as Natsu, Gray, and Happy looked exhausted.

However, a few minutes in and the Demon Hunter was back to normal. Being part demon has its perks, such as Healing Factor, Super Strength, Reflexes, Durability, Devil Trigger, and a few other unique things. Meaning he could go for a while before needing to rest again. Which helped him a bit since Lucy was bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to go at the crack of dawn.

"I hate waking up this early," Natsu whined.

"Hey, you guys kept me up all night with your snoring," Lucy snapped, "and you don't hear me complaining! Let's go!"

"Aye," Natsu, Gray, and Happy all moaned.

"You guys wanted to get the good jobs," stated Nero as he folded his arms, "means you gotta get up and get your ass moving when you have to."

"How come you're okay?" Gray asked.

"Demons usually come out a night, so had to allnighters pretty often," answered Nero, remembering a few jobs where he and either Trish, Lady, or Dante would be situated in the van and stake out some places they were hired to look into for demons, "Lost track of how many times I had to get fighting after waking up at the drop of hat for a demon that came out of nowhere."

"See, Nero's got the right attitude!" praised Lucy as she smiled at the demon hunter, who waved her off. With all said and done, she then pulled out a silver key and pointed it forward, **"Open, Gate of the Clock Constellation: Horologium!"**

In a puff of smoke, a tall brown grandfather clock, with long black arms and short black legs, appeared. It had a glass case, a Roman-numerical clock at the center, and a small face at the top with slit eyes and a thin, twirl mustache-like mouth.

"The time is seven forty-eight," the spirit said cheerfully.

"You lose track of time?" asked Nero, not seeing why they would need a clock right now. They were going searching and having that around seemed like a hindrance.

"No, it's because she's lazy," Natsu told him.

Raising an eyebrow, he glanced back at Lucy, only to find her climbing into the clock, opening Holorlogium's glass case before shutting it behind herself.

"'Let's go', the lady says forcefully," the spirit said, repeating what Lucy had said from within him, and then marched towards the mountain.

"Well, if there's one way to travel," commented Nero as he watched them head towards the moment before turning to Natsu, "so he carries her around like that?"

"Yep," Natsu replied as he, Happy and Gray walked after the spirit, "because she's lazy."

"Just when you think you've seen it all...," sighed Nero as he shook his head and followed them. Quickly catching up with the others and despite Horologium's headstart, all formed up into one group due to the spirit's slow pace.

"You really think there's another way to lift the curse?" asked Natsu, looking at Nero.

"Not like we have much choice," answered the demon hunter, keeping his focus forward, "None of us can get to the moon and its not likely we'll be able to do much since there's no air. Even if we did manage to destroy the thing, it would completely throw the planet off. Moon's there for a reason, offing it would mess up the climate, throw it off its axis, general end of the world stuff."

Nero was by no means an astronomer, but at the academy in Fortuna, they did cover modern lessons, despite not having the best technology, one of those lessons being astrology. The moon basically acted like an anchor, keeping the Earth in place and stablize its orbit in the goldie locks zone of space. And in this case, it was doing the same thing for Earthland. How and why some decided to call it that, he would never know.

"Wait...hang on..." Gray interrupted, giving Nero an incredulous look, "how do you know that?"

"At the academy in my world," answered Nero as he shrugged, "However, if there was something that could destroy the moon, it was a demon by the name of Mundus. And probably my uncle."

The wizards and cat simply stared at him in astonishment; that was when it hit the demon hunter that going to space in this world was completely unheard of. With the lack of technology here, it made sense and that it would be ludicrous for someone to claim to make it there.

"Wow! That's awesome!" Natsu grinned brightly.

 _'Damn…'_ Gray thought, _'Is this guy for real…?'_

"Does that mean you can get to space?" asked Happy.

"No, on the account that I can't fly and I'm not strong enough or powerful enough," stated Nero, knowing that he never did like admitting that he was weak, but in this case, the scope of what they were doing made it not all that bad.

"Good, because if you _could_ destroy the moon, it would cause all the salmon to go extinct," Happy mentioned, thinking about what Nero had said earlier about what might happen if he did destroy the moon, "And they're my favorite fish!"

"Will you guys keep it down?" Horologium asked, "We don't know what's lurking out here, so we shouldn't draw any attention, the lady demands impatiently."

"Don't see why? Not like you have much room to complain," commented Nero, a little annoyed by Lucy's practically bipolar attitude to all this, "you're not even walking and you're not even tired."

"Listen, this curse is freaking me out, and I'm scared, she says nervously," Horologium repeated dutifully.

"Are you kidding?" Natsu asked, pumping his fist, "S-Class quests are awesome!"

"We're likely gonna break something," commented Nero, his tone was both resigned, but also excited. Like he was anticipating the fight, that was most likely to come.

"Yeah," Gray said arrogantly, "but I bet I could just freeze that stupid curse."

"You guys are idiots, she says disparagingly," Horologium replied, though he sounded like he agreed.

"Says the hypocrite," muttered Nero, recalling what Lucy had said, that she wouldn't risk her life over money when she was the first one up and ready to go on this S-Class Quest. However, not a second later, they were all stopped by the sound of giant footsteps.

Everyone turned to see a giant figure behind them. It was easily thirty-feet-tall, but the sun was behind it, so the light got in their eyes, preventing them from getting a good look. Whatever it was, it started to laugh in high-pitched, menacing hiss.

"Guess this must be what happens to the animals on this rock," said Nero, his hand going up to Blue Rose, though mindfully kept Devil Bringer from sight as it was still pulsing with energy.

"IT'S HUGE!" Gray exclaimed.

"No," Natsu said, gathering flames around his hands, "but I bet it wants a fight!"

"What are you waiting for?! Beat it up, you guys, she yells frighteningly," Horologium said.

Whatever the animals was, it started to reach out towards the group, only for Nero to grab the handle of his revolver and whip it out. Quickly taking aim, he fired right into the palm of the beast. The shots struck the center, causing it to let out a surprised screech and pull back. Taking the advantage, Nero sprinted right towards it and pulled Devil Bringer back, Spectral Bringer formed, growing slightly larger.

Once Nero had the size of the fist he wanted, he swung Devil Bringer at the side of the beast's head, Spectral Bringer doing the same and collided with it. The force behind the punch sent the beast sliding back onto its side, allowing everyone to have a good look at the monster. Safe to say, Nero had a slightly altered opinion about what they were fighting.

"It's a giant rat, she exclaims worriedly," Horologium said, sounding rather concerned himself.

Indeed, it was a giant rat, but its fur was a light green and it wore what looked like a maid's apron and bonnet. Nero had to admit, this was likely one of the weirdest things he's seen so far in this world. Granted, he has seen somethings from the likes of demons that would make anyone do a double take. But this was definitely up there.

The punch clearly stunned the rat, but it was getting up shortly, reaching up to rub its paw against its now sore jaw. Glaring at the wizards, it began to take a deep breath in.

Not wanting to let himself or his friends get hit by whatever it was about to do, Gray ran forward and put his right fist on top of his left hand, which was palm-up. A cold mist gathered around his body.

"Ice Make: Shield!" a giant fan-shaped shield of ice erupted from the ground. Unfortunately, it didn't do any good, because the rat belched forth a noxious, foul-smelling gas.

"Woah," groaned Nero as he waved his hand in front of himself, "nice breath you have. This your morning breath, or are you having an off day?"

Nero had smelt things much worse, a Dagon like Bael taking first place in the bad smell department. So everyone, minus the Demon Hunter, tried in vain to block out the smell, but it was already in their noses. Natsu lay on the ground, nearly unconscious from the stench, and it affected Horologium so badly that he was forced back into the Spirit World, leaving Lucy to the mercy of the rat.

"Run!" she screamed, attempting to get away from the massive rodent, but it was all for not as it began to reach out towards her. However, the rat suddenly lets out a surprised screech in pain as a sharp sensation sliced across its back. Flipping over it was Nero, Red Queen drawn as the demon hunter landed back on the ground. Turning its attention to him, the rat hissed in anger.

"Common, cut me a little slack," taunted Nero as he rested Red Queen on his shoulder, "just not big on rats or toads."

The rat let out another hiss, giving him a look that said, _'I'm bigger than you by a lot, so what are you going to do?'_

"Well, the silent type, huh?" taunted Nero again, looking like he was not taking this seriously at all, "that's...annoying."

Fed up with this humans insults, the Rat raised its tail and brought it down right towards Nero. However, this is exactly what the Demon Hunter wanted. Sheathing Red Queen, he opened Devil Bringer's palm and caught the tip with one hand, his coat billowing in the wind that was caused by the tail coming right towards him. The rat tried to pull its tail free, but Nero's grip wouldn't allow it.

With a nearly savage yell, Nero pulled the Rat, swinging it up into the air and brought it down with a might smash. The wizards watched in amazement as the Demon completely flipped the rat over. The rat was the most surprised as it was completely over classed in strength.

"I wouldn't look so surprised," taunted Nero, as he grinned almost ferally at the rat, "if you knew what I've fought, you would know that you're not even the largest thing I've beat."

The rat started to take a deep breath again, no doubt in order to use its gas attack, but the hunter wouldn't have any of it as he released the tail and swung out Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer speeding right towards the rat's face where it wrapped around its snout, forcing to shut its mouth.

"I think we've had enough of your morning breath," quipped Nero as he suddenly smashed the rats head into the ground.

The force of the impact actually caused it to bounce leaving it open for him to pull Spectral Bringer back and slug it right in the stomach. The result was the monster smashing through several trees before sliding to a stop, where it lay unconscious. Clapping his hands together getting the dust off, Nero looked satisfied with having beaten the rat. However, he looked back when he heard a yell and saw both Natsu and Gray pummeling the head of the massive animal.

"I'm pretty sure it's not gonna get up any time soon," commented Nero, "we've got a job to do, so let's go!"

"We should kick its butt while we have the chance!" both wizards yelled at once.

"Wonder if Dante ever had to do with this," muttered Nero to himself before turning to find Lucy, who had fled from the fight, but was coming back.

"Hey, guys!" she pointed in the direction she'd come from, "I found something!"

Judging from the tone she used, it must be important. So not wanting to wait around, Nero used Devil Bringer to summon Spectral Bringer and Snatch both Natsu and Gray from the top of the giant rat. Once he had them, he increased the size of Spectral Bringer so he could hold them both in one Spectral Bringer and left them hanging around in Hold. He then made his way in the direction of where Lucy had gone, ignoring the two wizard hotheads that were in his clutches.

Catching up with Lucy at a reasonable pace, Nero and the Celestial Wizard, along with the two protesting wizards in the demon hunter's hold, now stood in front of a massive temple; the structure was covered in cracks and vines. Based on that, it was here for quite some time, or it was hardly if at all, maintained. The entrance into the temple was massive and wide enough for an idea to pop into the hybrid's head. Pulling Devil Bringer back, Spectral Bringer doing the same, Nero threw both Natsu and Gray into the temple before he and Lucy followed in.

Upon entering, the two found Natsu and Gray shaking off the impact. The pink-haired wizard glared at the demon hunter in rage, "What's the big idea taking us outta the fight like that?!"

"Because the rat had nothing to do with the curse," retorted Nero, with a blank expression, "and besides the more time we waste, the more likely another person in the village's gonna lose and more than likely get put down. So I decided to stop wasting time for you."

Chastised, Natsu rubbed the back of his head, "Right, sorry."

"While we're on the topic: any reason you passed out because of Remy's morning breath back there?" recalled Nero, remembering how much the scent had to affect Natsu to the point of knocking him out, "I've smelt bad things, but it wasn't the worst."

Natsu looked embarrassed, so Happy answered for him, "Dragon Slayers have stronger senses than most, so the smell was really bad for him."

"If that's the case, if you run into a Dagon, just don't bother fighting it all," commented Nero, remembering how awful that demon can smell.

"What's a Dagon?" asked Gray, looking slightly confused when he heard the name.

"Giant toad demon that uses ice, mist, and lures people in with false hooks," answered Nero bluntly.

"Sounds kinda like you," interjected Natsu.

"Hey!" Gray snapped, glaring at the Dragon Slayer.

"Knock it off!" Lucy half-shouted, "This temple is old, and I don't want it collapsing on us because you two idiots started another fight."

Nero looked around the area and indeed the temple looked to be in poor condition. There were dozens of cracks everywhere, chunks of walls had collapsed, and looked ready to collapse in on itself at any time. What also stood out to Nero was the overall appearance, it looked similar to an ancient temple, not like the Temen-Ni-Gru, but had a similar style to it.

"Wow…this place is massive," Lucy noted.

"So, what's with all the moon symbols?" he asked, pointing to the multiple carvings on the walls.

"Well, it makes sense, Galuna used to be called the 'Island of the Moon'," Gray responded.

"Moon island, moon related curse," listed Nero, before smirking wryly, "bet we're gonna run into something with 'moon' in it."

"Yeah," Lucy said to herself, "you really gotta wonder what all of it means."

Natsu, who had stopped paying attention, started stomping on the stone floor. "Man, this place is a wreck. The floor doesn't even look safe to walk on."

"Well, don't go stomping on it!" Lucy yelled. Her words came too late, however, because the floor did indeed break apart, sending the entire team plummeting into a dark hole.

"Natsu, you idiot," Gray yelled, "look what you did!"

During the freefall, Nero acted completely on instinct, flipping himself around he sent Spectral Bringer out and caught Lucy in his Snatch. Pulling her close, when she bumped into Nero, this sent them towards a wall. Not even realizing it, Lucy wrapped her arms around Nero's neck, shutting her eyes.

Shifting his grip so that he held her in his left arm, Nero swung Devil Bringer at the fall, his clawed fingertips digging into the stone. Slowing them down, just enough so when they were closing in on the ground, he pushed off and caught Lucy in a bridal form. His feet collided with the ground with a stomp while the others fell into rocks.

A moment later, a piece of rock in a pile of rubble was shifted as Natsu's head popped out, "Hey!" he looked around frantically, "Is everybody okay?"

"I'd be better if you hadn't knocked out the floor!" Lucy retorted, glaring at the pink-haired wizard, not even noticing she was in Nero's arms.

"Here's a thought," Gray growled, lying on his stomach, "if you think before you act, maybe you wouldn't cause so much destruction!"

"Hey hang on...," Natsu looked at the hold Nero was holding Lucy in, then a devilish grin formed, "Getting comfy, Lucy?"

Not realizing what Natsu was talking about, she noticed the arms holding her then turned to see Nero was holding her, "Was wondering when you'd notice," commented Nero teasingly. This prompted Lucy to blush as she scrambled out of Nero's arms.

"T-thank you," thanked Lucy, facing away from the Demon Hunter to hide her blush.

"Don't mention it," shrugged Nero as he hooked his thumbs into his belt. In the short time he had spent in this wizarding crazy world, he came to the conclusion that humans here were far more durable than the ones back home. In any case, the people he's meet as of yet. Considering Natsu was able to tank one of his best Busters, he figured that any other member of Fairy Tail was likely the same, but that didn't stop him from helping out when the time calls for it.

But it went without saying that Nero was surprised and impressed that the three wizards and winged cat were able to tank a fifty-foot fall into a chasm with no problem. Then emerge from under rocks relatively uninjured. He's fallen much further than them, but he is part demon.

Lucy quickly recovered from her moment of embarrassment and looked up the hole they had just fallen into, "Happy, can you fly us outta here?"

"No, sorry," Happy replied, "That's too many trips for me."

"I could probably throw you far enough," offered Nero, but it was more of a joke than anything. This only got him a pointed look from Gray and Lucy, while Natsu had his attention caught by something.

"Look, a secret cave!" The Dragon Slayer ran through said cave, yelling, "This is so awesome!"

"Would you quit running around like a crazy person!?" Gray shouted.

"Come on," deadpanned Nero as he watched as Gray and Happy chase after the lunatic Dragon Slayer, "guy's got the attention span of a five-year-old. He always like this?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Lucy sighed.

"What do you think will happen first?" asked Nero suddenly as he followed the two wizards at a leisurely pace with Lucy, "Me finding a way home, or me going insane, via Natsu?"

"Probably go insane," replied Lucy in a nonchalant tone.

Thankfully, Natsu had stopped not too far ahead, staring up at…

"Whoa," Nero said.

"That's what I said," Natsu said, not losing sight of what lay in front of them.

What they were looking at was a giant chunk of ice, roughly reaching a height of fifty feet and had a was far too circular to natural; the ice itself was a light blue that seemed to glow some otherworldly, but somewhat calming as well, light. However, the ice itself isn't what had their attention, it was what was encased in the ice. In it was a creature that was just a foot smaller than the ice that sealed it. It had dozens of scales, fangs, and claws, though it appeared to dead, however that didn't stop the presence of death and destruction.

"Demon," stated Nero as his left hand immediately went to Red Queen, just a precaution as it was sealed.

"That's impossible," Gray whispered, stepping forward with absolute shock and horror written all over his face, "It's Deliora!"

"You know what that is?" demanded Nero looking at him, but Gray just ignored the Demon Hunter.

"How? How could this happen?" his voice grew louder and slightly hysterical, "How is it here? What the hell is it doing on Galuna Island!?"

"You've seen this thing before?" Natsu asked, less unsettled by the monster and more by the fact that Gray rarely lost his composure like this.

"T-there's no way…," Gray didn't seem to hear them, his arms trembling.

Lucy grabbed his shoulder, "Gray, try to calm down."

The ice wizard took a deep breath and his shaking lessened, but his eyes had a haunted look about them.

"Can you tell us about this?" Lucy asked gently, pointing at the creature.

"It's Deliora, the Demon of Destruction," Gray told them.

"Demon of Construction?" Natsu asked.

" _D_ estruction," Happy corrected.

"But why is it here?" Gray asked no one in particular, "It doesn't make any sense."

Nero didn't know anything about this demon, but it seemed Devil Bringer did as it was pulsing powerfully. So much so, he almost winced. Glancing down at Devil Bringer, he saw that it was glowing much brighter, so much so that Nero folded his arm and brought it close to his chest in order to conceal it. However, it didn't seem like he would have to as the other's attention was drawn to the sound of footsteps behind them.

"Go," said Nero quietly as he ushered the wizards behind some boulders, hiding just in time to see two people walk into the cavern.

One was a young man who was fairly short; he had a green coat that went down to his knees, spiky blue hair and the thickest eyebrows Nero had seen on a person.

The second person was another man; he was shirtless but wore a pair of blue pants. The strangest thing about him; however, was his doglike face, which looked like someone had combined a human face with a dog's. Sticking out of his shaggy brown hair was a pair of dog-ears.

"The voices seem to be coming from down here," the blue-haired guy said, then sighed, "I hate being awake during the day."

 _'Comment like that, you'd think he's a vampire,'_ thought Nero snidely.

The guy with the thick eyebrows continued to speak, "So, Toby, were you exposed to the Moon Drip? I mean, you've got those pointy ears…"

"I already told you, they're a fashion statement, you jerk!" the dog-man, Toby, yelled.

The blue-haired man chuckled, "I was just teasing you."

"You don't have to be so mean about it," Toby grumbled.

"Moon Drip," Lucy whispered, "could that be the name of the curse?"

"Runs with the theme of this rock," whispered Nero back, "But I doubt these guys have the smarts to pull off a curse like this, by themselves anyway."

"Yuka, Toby," a new voice called out, and a young woman walked into the cavern, "something terrible has happened."

The woman had violet-pink hair that was tied into pigtails, and wore a short, pink-and-black dress with white lace around the edges. She also wore black thigh-length boots and a strange, scarf-like thing around her neck that looked like long feathers.

"What is it, Sherry?" the man now known as Yuka asked.

"It's Angelica," Sherry said mournfully, "she's been attacked, and I'm so sad."

"You're moping around because someone beat up your stupid pet rat!?" Toby barked.

That caught the attention of Nero, as well as the attention of the Fairy Tail Wizards. That giant rat which attacked them earlier was in league with these guys?

"Angelica is not a rat," Sherry said fiercely, "she's a brave hunter, prowling the jungle to protect us. She is… _love_."

As their conversation changed from shouts to regular voices, it went to whispering, giving Nero the chance to lean over to Happy, "Girl's not right in the head," commented the Demon Hunter. The cat nodded in agreement.

"These guys are a bunch of weirdoes," Lucy whispered, "especially the chick with the pet rat."

"Rat can be a lot of things, but love, ain't one of them," agreed Nero.

Natsu narrowed his eyes at the trio, "Judging from the scent I picked up, they're not from the island." He stated.

"And they don't look like they have the 'demon curse'," Happy pointed out.

"Intruders, you say?" Yuka's raised voice brought their attention back to the strange trio.

"And it's almost time to begin collecting moonlight again," Sherry sighed, "Oh, this makes me so sad. This news will displease the Cold Emperor. We should get rid of the intruders before he finds out. Yes, we must find them before the moon's first light."

"Agreed," Yuka said, a sadistic smile on his face. Toby only nodded.

"If they were here, then they've seen Deliora, and that means we can't allow them to live," Sherry said, "We shall give them the gift of eternal rest. We'll give them… _love_."

"You're talking about death, right?" Toby asked, confused.

 _'Okay, I'm about done with this shit,'_ thought Nero as he shook his head, _'Gray's having a momentary breakdown for I don't know what, and we have no idea what the hell these guys can do. Not one to run from a fight, but I do know when to live to fight another day.'_

Grabbing a nearby loose stone, he hurled it down a different tunnel. He did so without the three noticing him. But what was noticed was the loud echo that followed when the stone struck the ground. Taking the bait, the three left and went to find out what the noise was. Once they were gone, Lucy let out her breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding.

"Nice thinking, Nero," complimented the Celestial Wizard.

"But why didn't we just jump those guys and beat some answers out of them?" Natsu asked grumpily, itching for a fight.

"Because we have no idea what they can do," explained Nero, narrowing his eyes at the Slayer, "Even if we did beat them, it's more than likely they would lie. Back home, my uncle preferred to learn as much as he could about a job then compare it to what we know already. Also," he jabbed a thumb at Gray who was still staring at the frozen carcass of Deliora, "Gray's not in any shape for a fight."

Natsu sighed; as much as he didn't want to admit it, Nero was right, "This job keeps raising more questions."

"Aye," Happy agreed, "like, who is this 'Cold Emperor'?"

"Obviously not Elsa," commented Nero sardonically.

Gray, meanwhile, was off in his own little world. 'Deliora… what could they want with it? And how the hell did they even find it and bring it here?'

"Gray?" Lucy asked, "What do you know about this thing?"

"It was sealed away inside a glacier on the Northern Continent a decade ago," Gray answered, "An immortal demon ravaged the town of Isval; countless people lost their lives. My master, Ur, the woman who taught me my magic, sacrificed everything to seal it. I don't know if it has anything to do with the curse, but that demon doesn't belong here. We have to find out who this 'Cold Emperor' is. If he's tarnished Ur's legacy, he's gonna regret the day he was born!" He raged, a cold mist billowing off of his arms.

"People never learn, never make deals with the devil," agreed Nero, momentarily taken off guard by Gray's ferocity, "But if we're gonna do this, you need to keep a clear head, Gray. Won't do much good in a fight if your head isn't in the game."

"Why don't we just take out this stupid demon right now?" Natsu asked, approaching the frozen Deliora, "A little fire'll do the trick."

Something in Gray suddenly snapped as he punched Natsu in the jaw, sending him tumbling to the ground. Happy gaped at the ice wizard while Lucy put her hands to her mouth in shock.

"Very nice punch," complimented Nero, "would've slapped him upside the head myself..."

"What's the big idea, Gray!?" Natsu demanded, getting up.

The Dragon Slayer paused when he saw the dead serious look Gray was shooting him.

"I don't want you or your flames anywhere _near_ it!" He shouted, and then lowered his voice dangerously, "If the ice melts and Deliora gets free, nothing will be able to stop it."

"Wanna bet?" commented Nero, seriously doubting the statement. Demons were notorious for being overly dramatic and arrogant. If what Gray had said, it likely came from the demon. He's fought things that gave demon's nightmares.

"Oh, come on," Natsu said, his tone serious, "You really think a chunk of ice that big would be easy to melt?"

Gray tried to retort but fell silent.

"Hey," spoke up Nero, "you know how your master stopped this thing the first time?"

The ice wizard nodded. "My master used a spell called Iced Shell to trap Deliora. It made a type of ice that can never be melted. It's so strong that even the most powerful fire spells have no effect on it. But if these people knew that the ice couldn't be melted, why would they bring it here?"

"Maybe it had something to do with that Moon Drip thing that they were talking about?" Lucy offered.

"You might be right," Gray said, "so if they're going to wait for the moon to come out, then we'll do the same."

"Been a while since I've done a stakeout," commented Nero.

"Argh," Natsu moaned, "It's the middle of the afternoon, I'll die of boredom!"

Five minutes later, the Dragon Slayer was sound asleep on the rocky floor.

"Well, that was fast," Lucy commented, used to her friend's ridiculous behavior by now.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

Moments later, Lucy was sitting on a rock a meter from the snoozing Dragon Slayer with her head resting on her left palm. "Must be nice," Lucy remarked, looking at Natsu, "he doesn't have to worry about anything but eating, fighting, and sleeping."

"Aye," Happy replied, "that's Natsu for yah."

"I gotta admit," conceded Lucy, "I'm a little bit jealous."

Lucy turned her attention to Gray, who was sitting on a rock in front of the frozen Deliora. He was staring at the ground with a brooding expression. In fact, the onyx-haired teen was recalling a memory of training with his Master Ur when he was a boy.

"Ugh…" Lucy moaned, "I know I agreed to wait, but this is so boring."

"Aye," Happy replied.

Nero rolled his eyes. He was currently leaning against the cave wall, having glanced over to the blonde girl and blue feline with a deadpanned expression, "So breaking the rules, going on an S-Class Quest, and finding out about demons isn't exciting enough? If I recall, didn't you try running when things got 'exciting'?"

"Oh, I know!" Lucy said excitedly, ignoring Nero's remark.

She pulled out a silver key from her key pouch and thrust it forward, **"Open, Gate of the Harp Constellation: Lyra!"**

In a puff of pink smoke, a young girl, with orange waist-length hair that curled at the end, appeared. She wore a long blue dress with yellow hearts printed by her waist, leather shoes, and had a pink bonnet on top of her head. She had round blush marks on her cheeks, and small white wings and a large harp on her back.

"Oh wow!" Lyra smiled brightly, waving her right hand in front of her. "I haven't seen you in forever, Lucy!"

"Hey, Lyra," Lucy greeted, smiling.

"I should be getting paid to deal with this shit," complained Nero as he looked at the Celestial before shaking his head. However, as he looked away, he gripped Devil Bringer by the wrist. It hadn't stopped pulsing.

"Say," Lyra looked at the blond wizard in slight annoyance, "why don't you call me anymore? It's not fair." Her demeanor quickly brightened as she continued, "I'd love to help you out, but you ignore me, meanie."

"Meanie, huh," Lucy gave the spirit a pointed look, "you're the one who told me you were only available three days a month."

Lyra gaped and looked at Lucy in slight shock, "Are you sure about that…?"

Happy sweatdropped, "Great…another weirdo,"

"Now you know how I feel," sighed Nero, "This world is gonna give me a stroke."

"So, what would you like to hear me sing?" Lyra asked animatedly, "any requests?"

"Nope. Whatever you want," Lucy replied.

"You know any songs about fish?" Happy asked eagerly.

"How about something less 'you'," commented Nero.

"Okay!" Lyra beamed, giving a thumbs-up. "I've got a song I think you're going to love, Lucy!"

"Lyra has the most beautiful singing voice." the Celestial wizard said.

"Well, Mira's a singer too, yah know." Happy retorted. "And she sings songs about fish for me."

Lyra sat down and removed her harp from her back, setting it down in front of her. She ran her hands across the harp's strings, creating a calm, lovely sound.

Happy gasped in surprise from the beautiful melody before a peaceful smile crossed his face.

Nero's eyebrows rose slightly, taken off guard completely by a new sensation. Whatever reason, the sound of the melody was relaxing him. Sitting down and propping himself up against the wall, Nero stretched one leg out as he had the other tucked in to rest his elbow on. His eyes closed as he began to listen.

 _"Words are born into air…,"_ Lyra sang, _"…and quickly fade out in the wind…but they find their way inside you…where they live forevermore…When the skies are dark and full of rain…look inside of your heart…"_

As Lyra continued her song, Gray clenched his teeth as his body trembled slightly. He had suddenly remembered the time when Ur was teaching him how to perform 'Ice-Make: Shield'. As a result, a stray tear fell down his face as he choked back his sobs.

When Lyra finished her melody, she, Lucy, and Happy overheard Gray's sniffling and looked at him in concern.

"Gray?" Lucy said worriedly, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…," he choked, "I'm fine."

"You seem upset." Happy pointed out.

"Well, one of Lyra's talents is singing songs that relate to what her audience is feeling," Lucy said calmly.

"Did her song make you cry?" asked Happy.

"I…I wasn't crying," Gray denied; although, it didn't take a genius to know that he was lying.

"Maybe you should sing something a little more upbeat?" Lucy suggested to the harp spirit.

"You should've just said that in the first place," Lyra retorted.

A moment of silence passed before Gray replied, "I think we should skip the song. We need to stay quiet. We don't wanna be found out."

As they spoke, Nero had fallen fast asleep. Lyra's singing had knocked him out cold. At first, her melody had sent him into a calm, peaceful slumber; however, it didn't take long for his sleep to change as nightmares began to set in. His expression going from peaceful to discomfort. Devil Bringer pulsing slightly and his fingers to flex every once and a while.

Two Years

Nero would be forced to face these dreams every now and again. As they started out, he would lose sleep quite often, turning to drink late at night. However, that only proved to be a temporary aid, learning how to deal with the nightmares as they came. However, that didn't mean coping with it was any easier. The pain was still there, just not as strong.

Nero grunted in his sleep as Devil Bringer clenched tightly into a fist.

* * *

 _ **Fairy Tail Guild Hall**_

Back in the Fairy Tail guild hall, Makarov sat at his usual place at the bar, his mind filled with worry. He had four members of his guild, as well as a guest, who were missing and possibly in terrible danger. He'd hoped that Gray was on his way back with them in tow, but it was looking more and more likely that he was either still looking for them, or had joined them.

"Master!" Mirajane walked up to him, a letter in her hands, "A message has arrived from the Magic Council archives. You wanted me to let you know when it got here."

"They already have an answer?" Makarov said, slightly amazed.

He'd sent a message to some old friends, asking them to find any magic that could send someone to another universe. Truthfully, if the magic did exist, it was probably hidden so well that it would take weeks, even months, to find. He hadn't expected a reply in less than three days.

He opened the letter and quickly read through it, his expression turning graver with every word. Mirajane noticed this and had an uneasy feeling.

"Is something wrong, Master?" asked Mira noticing the distressed expression, "Did your friends find a way for Nero to return home?"

"They did," replied Makarov, however his tone was grim, "but I'm not sure Nero will like it or take it."

 _ **To Be Continued...**_


	6. Chapter 6 Galuna Island Part 3

_**Okay, chapter 6 of Devil Tail. Still going strong, and focusing on it more than my other stories. To be honest, I didn't think when I started this story that it was going to get so popular so fast. However, I honestly doubt it would ever compare to Ultimate Fairy which is a masterpiece made by an excellent author.**_

 _ **However, if it does half as good as Ultimate Fairy, I would consider that an achievement. But Devil May Cry has been getting a bit more popular, especially with the teaser for DMC 5, so if it does well, that's great.**_

 _ **In any case, on to the story.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing, not a thing.**_

 _ **Devil Tail**_

 _ **Chapter 6: Galuna Island Part 3**_

* * *

 _*Mindscape*_

 _"Kyrie get to safety, now!"_

 _Sparks flew, Nero's sword clashing with another in a brutal contest of who was the greater swordsman._

 _ **"NERO!"**_

 _"Go now! Find someplace safe with the others and-"_

 _A distinct crunch was heard and Nero's left arm was enveloped in agony. The attack knocked him to the ground as his head smashed into the stone. He was alive, but the fight took a terrible turn._

 _"Kyrie?" gasped Nero as he sat up, **"Kyrie?! KYRIEEEEEEE!"**_

* * *

Nero sat up suddenly, waking from a nightmare. His breathing was quick and sharp gasps as he looked around, trying to remember how he got in a cave. As the memories of what happened and where he was sunk in, the Demon Hunter let out a groan and rubbed his eyes.

Another nightmare.

But they hadn't come around for weeks, and that confused him. Why did they suddenly come back?

 _'Lyra's song, maybe that had something to do with it,'_ thought Nero as he scratched the back of his head, _'Not the first time I've dealt with that dream...I'll get through it again, hopefully.'_

Suddenly, any tiredness he had or concern for his nightmares quickly dissipated as the cavern began to shake.

"The hell?" stated the demon hunter instantly on his feet and began looking around.

"Is it night yet?" Natsu said, jumping up as well; however, he seemed more concerned with actually doing something than the possibility of being buried alive.

Instead of falling rocks, a violent magic circle appeared on the cavern's ceiling and a purple light flowed downward, covering the frozen form of Deliora.

"It's a beam of light!" Lucy shouted, wide-eyed.

"Shining down from the ceiling," Natsu concluded, equally shocked.

Devil Bringer began pulsing powerfully, almost responding to the glow. Nero narrowed his eyes as he looked down at his demonic appendage. The glove he wore was nearly torn to shreds thanks to its treatment when he slowed himself and Lucy down when they fell into the cave. Seeing no point in wearing it, he tore the glove off but kept his sleeve rolled down.

"This must be the cursed moonlight," stated Nero as his left hand went to Red Queen and gripped the handle. He revved the Exceed System in case a fight was to come.

"What's going on?" Happy fretted. "I'm getting scared here, guys."

"It's shining on Deliora!" Gray exclaimed.

"I don't think that's a coincidence," Natsu stated.

"Let's go!" Gray ordered, waving them towards the exit, "We need to find out where the light's coming from."

"Aye," Happy agreed.

The team ran to the temple and went up a flight of stairs, where they found another magic circle feeding more moonlight onto the floor, which was right above Deliora.

"Why would someone cast a magic circle inside this old temple?" Gray asked, confused.

"Not sure," replied Nero as he looked around the area, "but we better get to the roof. We might find some answers there."

The team headed up another flight of stairs, which exited on top of the temple. Once there, they found a circle of people, their features concealed by robes and masks. The robed people didn't notice the group as they were focused on chanting some strange words to bring the purple moonlight into a column, which was then being sent via magic circles to bathe the frozen demon below the temple.

The whole set up, the demon, the robes, the chanting, it all reminded Nero of Fortuna sermons. Seeing these people worship a demon... it made him sick. While Sparda had done something no other demon had done and betrayed his master and brethren for the sake of humanity, this demon was nothing like Sparda, from what he's heard from Gray. Plus, Devil Bringer was pulsing even more than when it was in the cave. Something was definitely here, and Devil Bringer recognized it as a powerful demon presence.

The only thing that the wizards and demon hunter couldn't figure out was _what_ they were doing, and _why_ they were doing it.

"The moon…," Gray said.

"It looks like those robed freaks are chanting some weird spell to collect the moonlight," Natsu deduced.

"And shine it on Deliora," Lucy concluded.

"That's all well and good, but doesn't exactly tell us why they're doing it," interjected Nero sharply as listing what they saw cleared a few things, but didn't give them an immediate answer as to how they were going to do this.

"It's an ancient spell, used to collect Moon Drip," Lyra explained. For some reason, she had not returned to the Spirit World.

"What are you still doing here?" Lucy whispered crossly.

"I see," Lyra said, ignoring Lucy, "so that's what they're trying to do."

"Care to share with the group?" asked Nero, folding his arms, "or are we gonna have to figure it out on our own?"

"They're using the Moon Drip to melt the ice surrounding that demon underground, so they can resurrect it," Lyra answered.

"Well, shit," deadpanned Nero as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What?" Natsu gaped.

"They can't!" Gray countered, baring his teeth, "The ice in an Iced Shell can't be melted!"

"I hate to say it, but that's not entirely true." Lyre explained, "While the Iced Shell is strong, it _can_ be melted by the Moon Drip; focused moon-energy can break any spell."

"Oh no," Happy said frightfully.

"Those idiots!" Gray growled, "They've never witnessed the power of Deliora!"

"It's possible that what happened to the islanders is actually just a byproduct of this spell." Lyra continued, "They might not have been targeted intentionally."

"Either way," stated Nero as he grabbed Red Queen's handle and revved it, "it's time to put an end to this. More than a few people have died because of that thing."

"Yeah!" Natsu said, starting to rise, "Let's make 'em pay!"

"Wait," Lucy whispered, dragging both boys back down, "Someone's coming this way."

True to her words, a man approached the circle of chanters. No one could really tell what he looked like thanks to the demonic helmet he was wearing. He was also outfitted with a white cloak going over a blue outfit, coupled with armored leggings. Behind him were Yuka, Toby, and Sherry, but they kept a respectful distance.

Nero narrowed his eyes in disdain; whoever that was, he or she reminded him of a Sanctus. He leaned over to the group of wizards, "I'll eat Red Queen if that guy isn't the _'Cold Emperor'_ we so fondly heard of."

"Sucker's bet," Happy whispered, "no takers here."

"What a waste," Yuka said, "I lost so much sleep, and all for nothing. We searched all day for the intruders, but never found a trace of them."

"Maybe there wasn't any!" Toby yelled.

"I'm afraid I have some sad news, Cold Emperor," Sherry said to the masked man, "We thought we had intruders earlier today, but couldn't find them. We cannot speak of love in this kind of situation."

"Guess I won't be getting an extra dose of iron," smirked Nero as he kept his attention on the gathering.

"Shh!" Lucy shushed him.

"Intruders?" the Cold Emperor said in a flat voice.

Natsu and Nero both noticed Gray go ridged when they heard the Cold Emperor's voice. Nero gave Gray a questioning look: did he know something about this guy?

"Has Deliora been awakened?" The Cold Emperor questioned.

"It should be either tonight or tomorrow," Sherry answered.

"Which one, girl?!" Toby asked impatiently.

For a moment, the Cold Emperor was silent.

"The time has almost come," he finally said, "If you see those intruders again, kill them. I don't want anyone getting in my way."

"It must have been the villagers," Sherry summarized, "They're the only other people on this island."

"Then destroy the village!" the Cold Emperor commanded.

"Yes, sir!" all three said as one, bowing before their master.

Nero gritted his teeth as anger flooded his system. Were these people, seriously considering eliminating an entire village of people?! _Innocent_ men, women, and children on the off chance, someone saw that demon?!

"What?" Natsu snapped angrily.

"B-but…," Lucy looked very worried, "but the villagers have nothing to do with this!"

"Yeah, we have to stop them," The pink-haired wizard asserted.

The Cold Emperor smirked. "It's a shame there has to be bloodshed."

Gray continued to stare at the demonic-masked villain in shock. "That voice…" he murmured, "no…it can't be…"

"Screw this..." stated Nero as he stood on top of the boulder, everyone turning to see him draw Blue Rose and aim it right into the air. A powerful gunshot cracked across the area and through the night air, shattering the chanting and drawing the attention of everyone.

"You looking for an intruder," taunted Nero as he held out both his hands, "I'll save you the trouble of heading down to the village."

"I'm with him," stated Natsu as he joined Nero on top of the boulder he was previously hiding behind. Natsu's cheeks swelled up far larger than any normal humans before he looked up and exhaled a powerful torrent of fire into the air. "IT'S NOT THE VILLAGERS! WE'RE THE INTRUDERS YOU'RE AFTER!"

"Gotta agree with my loud-mouthed friend," Nero agreed as he aimed Blue Rose at the Cold Emperor, "The people down in the village, they didn't do shit to you. But we're the ones you're after."

"Geez…," Lucy groaned, standing up, "guess there's no turning back now, huh?"

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"Ooh, I want to help out too," Lyra requested nicely, standing behind Lucy, "Want me to sing?"

"No," a vein throbbed on Lucy's head, "I want you to go back." She deadpanned.

"Ahh…you're no fun…," Lyra said, holding her cheeks. In a puff of pink smoke, she vanished and returned to the Spirit World.

As the villains eyed their now-revealed enemies, Sherry spotted Natsu's guild mark.

"I know that mark," she said to her comrades, "they're from Fairy Tail!"

"Don't associate me with them," cut in Nero as he gestured to the wizards, "They're with Fairy Tail, I'm only here to get in on the action."

"Then who are you?" Toby demanded.

"Just a Demon Hunter looking to make ends meet and probably derail your little convention for that demon downstairs," stated the demon hunter, his smirk never leaving his face as he kept Blue Rose aimed at those gathered. However, he took great pleasure in the expressions of a few like Yuka, Toby, and Sherry who looked shocked to hear that he was a demon hunter.

"Interesting," commented Yuka, "those villagers must've gone to the magical guilds for help. However, I'm surprised they could even afford a demon slayer. They are notoriously rare to come across."

"Similar to how it's rare to come across someone with the brain power to come up with the name _'Cold Emperor',_ " retorted Nero, "how long did it take you to come up with that name? Five minutes?"

"Don't worry about them," The Cold Emperor replied calmly, "Go eradicate the village."

"What!?" Lucy gasped.

"But why?" Natsu asked, equally surprised.

"Anyone who stands in my way either deliberately or not is my enemy." The masked villain stated, clenching his right fist for emphasis.

"Say WHAT?!" Natsu shouted, appalled by the order. Did he seriously just order these guys to go kill the villagers?! They didn't even pose a threat to him, but he was going to kill them just because they got in his way?!

"Kinda defeats the point of being an emperor," snarked Nero, "Can't really be a ruler if all your subjects are dead. But, just gives us more of a reason to put you down."

Deciding to do this up close and personal, Nero holstered Blue Rose and drew out Red Queen. With no more words, Nero leaped down from the rock and charged right towards the gathered chanters, Cold Emperor, and his lackeys. An enraged scream coming from him as he charged. Natsu joined him and ran alongside the demon hunter while Gray leaped into the air.

"Stop this crazy ceremony right now!" Gray cried. As he landed, he slammed his hands into the ground and created a shockwave of ice that forced the Emperor's lackeys to jump out of the way.

The Emperor, however, summoned an icy-blue magical circle in his right hand. When he landed, he slammed his right palm against the stone ground, creating a wave of his own that was equally as powerful as Gray's. The two ice-walls met head-on and canceled each other out before shattering into tiny fragments.

"He's an ice wizard too?!" Happy shouted, shocked.

Gray stepped back as glared daggers at the masked villains, "Lyon," he growled dangerously.

Natsu and Lucy both gasped while Nero stopped where he was for a second. So he did know who this was. Or at the very least, suspected.

"Lyon?" parroted Lucy, not exactly certain who this was.

"Mind filling us in, Gray?" asked Nero, a little annoyed.

"Lyon," Gray continued; his voice hoarse with frustration and anger, "how could you? Do you have any idea what you're doing?!"

"Oh, Gray," the Cold Emperor, now identified as Lyon, said nonchalantly, "It's been quite a while, hasn't it?"

Lucy and Happy both gasped, surprised that Gray and Lyon actually knew each other.

"Why would you revive Deliora!?" Gray demanded.

"To think that _you_ were one of the wizards called to this island to help those poor villagers," Lyon said, ignoring Gray's question, "Did you come knowing that you would find me? Or is this just mere coincidence? Not that it makes any difference to me."

"An acquaintance of yours, Cold Emperor?" Yuka asked.

"Do as you were ordered," Lyon replied, though Nero noted that he didn't answer the question either, "I'll handle the intruders on my own."

"Yes, sir!" all three shouted, before dashing off in different directions.

"Hey, come back here!" Natsu yelled, running around Lyon.

"No! Natsu, don't get near him!" Gray had a panicked look in his eye again.

Lyon didn't even glance at Natsu. He merely held out his hand, and a sphere of spiked ice engulfed the Dragon Slayer's torso, upper arms, and thighs.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried out.

"Happy, get Lucy out of here!" Gray yelled.

"Aye!" the blue cat sprouted his wings and grabbed Lucy by the back of her shirt, lifting her into the air, despite her protests.

Gray held out his arms and fired a wave of ice at Lyon. The masked wizard simply held out his right arm and created a domed shield, which blocked Gray's attack.

"Happy!" shouted Nero, not even glancing back, "Get Lucy out of here and get to the village. They need to know what's going on and get ready. We'll deal with the Lich King wannabe and his thugs, and if we can't better be ready for the worst-case scenario."

"Aye!" Happy shouted, and then flew off toward the village.

"Be careful!" Lucy yelled before they disappeared in the distance.

"Should be telling this guy that," muttered Nero as he focused directly on Lyon, "Been looking for something to punch, preferably, something with an overinflated ego."

Without any more words, Nero charged right towards the Cold Emperor. Lyon hadn't been taking any one of them seriously, even Nero as he held out his hand and shot another blast of ice at him, similar to how he froze Natsu. However, Nero was able to dodge the blast, but not completely as his right arm was frozen in ice.

"Even if you are a demon slayer," stated Lyon, his tone still devoid of any emotion, "nothing can get out of my ice."

However, to both Lyon's and Gray's shock, they saw cracks forming in the ice. Nero merely smirked as he flexed his arm. More cracks began spider-webbing through the ice until extended his arm completely, the ice shattering like glass. Devil Bringer pulsed slightly as the shards of ice rained off his arm. Nero uncurled his fingers, on digit at a time before looking back at Lyon.

"You were saying?" taunted Nero before he dashed right towards Natsu who was still trapped in ice.

Lyon couldn't stop him before the demon hunter reaches the Dragon Slayer and smashed his elbow into the ice at the center of Natsu's chest. Cracks spread across the ice, allowing the dragon slayer to break through by his own strength.

"Hmm…" Lyon hummed, intrigued by how Nero so easily broke through his ice, "interesting."

"If you thought that was interesting," stated Nero as he planted the tip of Red Queen into the ground and revved the Exceed System, "then you'll love this."

You distracted me long enough for the girl and the cat to escape. Chivalrous, but ultimately pointless," Lyon remarked, "There's no way those two could stop my minions."

"You refer to them as minions?" asked Nero, giving Lyon a deadpanned expression, "If you weren't human, I'd definitely label you as a Devil."

"Don't underestimate the power of Fairy Tail!" Natsu shouted, "Come on, we'll take you on!"

"Not us, Natsu," Gray retorted, not looking away from Lyon, "just me! You and Nero, go after the other three."

"Oh, come on!" growled Natsu, but a strong grip caught his shoulder. Looking back, he saw Nero holding his shoulder.

"People's lives are on the line, Natsu. And we're wasting time," stated Nero, "the longer we wait here, the more likely someone's gonna lose their life. And you can't forget me going alone because you'll get frozen again." With that said, he began to leave, not before stopping beside Gray and glancing over his shoulder, "Think you can handle this guy?"

Gray nodded, "At the very least, I can fight him to a draw."

"Better than nothing," conceeded Nero, "better make it quick. Chances are, we're gonna need as much help as possible."

With all said and done, he and Natsu sprinted into the forest, but just before entering, the salmon-haired wizard stopped where he was, "Just don't die," requested Natsu in a serious tone before sprinting again to catch up with Nero.

Gray remembered saying the same thing to Natsu during the Lullaby incident a week prior. He had thought that the Dragon Slayer hadn't heard him, but it was possible that he was wrong. He shouldn't be too surprised though since Dragon Slayers do have keen senses.

Lyon chuckled humorlessly, "You think you can fight me to a draw 'at the very least'? That's not just reckless; it's also arrogant, Gray."

"I don't understand why you're trying to pull this superior act with me, Lyon. You're not!" Gray exclaimed angrily, "We're not Ur's students anymore!"

"I'm well aware that we're not Ur's students," Lyon replied, removing his mask to reveal the face of a young man with spiky white hair, "After all, our beloved teacher is no longer among the living."

"Her final act was sealing that monster away," stated Gray, appalled by his former friend's turn, "Are you really so callous that you would destroy our master's legacy?"

"Don't delude yourself," Lyon countered, "we both know that you're the one that killed Ur."

Gray's eyes went wide and his mouth twisted into a snarl. What happened wasn't his fault, but that didn't make the words that were said any less hurtful.

"But you don't seem to have any guilt over that," Lyon continued, "how cruel."

* * *

 ** _Galuna Island Coastline_**

Off the coast of Galuna Island, another danger was floating towards the shore. A massive ship, bearing the flag of pirates, was closing fast. However, the pirates weren't the ones who were dangerous; in fact, most of them were strewn about the deck, unconscious, severely beaten by the person who had hijacked their ship.

The captain of the ship, the only pirate still on his feet, and only because he was being forced to steer, glanced at the hijacker out of the corner of the one eye not covered in an eye patch.

"Why do you want to go to Galuna Island?" he asked nervously, "I mean, it's scary!"

"Just shut up and steer," the hijacker said in a commanding voice, as several of the pirates began to wake up.

"If you drop us off somewhere, you can have the boat!" the captain pleaded, "Please, I'm begging yah! I've heard that the island is cursed, and that anyone who sets foot on its soil gets turned into a demon!"

"I will take that chance," the hijacker responded.

"B-but why do you have to go there!?" the captain asked, panic in his voice.

The hijacker stepped out of the shadows, revealing herself to be a beautiful young woman with long scarlet hair and outfitted in armor; the mark of Fairy Tail was printed on the left side of her breastplate, while a yellow, asymmetrical cross was placed over that.

"When rules are broken," said Erza Scarlet, known as Titania, Queen of the Fairies, "the guilty must be punished. That is all I can tell you."

Despite being thoroughly crushed by her, the pirate crew found themselves warming up to the wizard; it didn't hurt that she was beautiful and they, being pirates, saw that as a bonus.

"We'll help you catch those guys," declared one pirate, despite not knowing who it was that they were chasing. Even the captain was inspired by Erza's courage in the face of the terror that was Galuna Island.

"All right, ya scallywags," he shouted, "get yer anchors outta yer pants and raise all sails; we're headed ta Galuna Island!"

As the pirates got to work, Erza reflected on why she'd needed to go to cursed island…

* * *

 _*Flashback*_

 _It wasn't unusual for the wizards of Fairy Tail to be anxious about something, though it was usually Natsu or Gray who was responsible; but as Erza entered the guild hall, she noticed neither wizard was present._

 _"Mirajane," she said evenly, "what has happened?"_

 _"Oh, Erza, it's terrible!" Mirajane said from her usual place from behind the bar, "Natsu took on one of the S-Class quests!"_

 _"By himself!?" Erza asked, but kept her face neutral._

 _"No, he took Lucy and Happy with him," Mira replied, "and Nero also."_

 _That was even more surprising to Erza. Lucy didn't seem the type to break the rules like that, and from what she'd heard, Nero didn't technically count as a wizard since he didn't view himself as one, even though he was a demon hunter with incredible feats and unique weapons. But something didn't make sense to her: why had they done it?_

 _"And there's more," Mirajane continued, "the Master sent Gray after them yesterday, but he should have been back by now. He might be hurt!"_

 _"Or, knowing Gray, he went along with them," Erza said to herself, but Mirajane still heard it._

 _"Oh no! Please, Erza, you have to bring them back, especially Nero; he's never been on a normal wizard job, let alone an S-Class one!" begged Mira._

 _"Erza, I'm glad you've arrived," Makarov said as he descended from the second floor of the guild hall, "I need you to fetch Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Gray and Nero from Galuna Island as soon as you can. They're out of their league."_

 _"Understood, Master," Erza complied. "I'll head to Hargeon immediately."_

 _Erza turned on her heel and walked out of the building, but not before hearing Makarov's comment to Mirajane._

 _"Though, if this information is correct, then Nero might not see a point in coming back at all..."_

 _*End flashback*_

* * *

While Erza had no idea what the Master meant by that, and while she didn't know what to do with Nero since he wasn't a member of Fairy Tail, she did know that the other members of her team had broken important rules of the guild. If they were in danger, she would rescue them and allow them to recover before they were punished; if they were fine, then their punishment would come all the sooner.

From the Master's tone, however, whatever information awaited Nero would probably be punishment enough…

* * *

 _ **Galuna Island, Moon Temple**_

Back at the temple, the group of chanters had been watching the faceoff between Gray and Lyon; the latter remained calm and collected while the former was starting to tremble in anger.

"Enough of the games, Gray," Lyon said, "We both know that you're the one who murdered Ur, so just admit it."

When Gray didn't answer, Lyon's face finally showed emotion, his eyes going wide with near-mania.

"I'm surprised you have the gall to even speak her name!" Lyon held out his hand, and a spiked mace made of ice slammed into Gray, sending him flying back.

Gray struggled to his feet, "Lyon…"

"What's wrong?" Lyon asked mockingly. "Don't tell me the guilt is finally getting to you. I'm warning you, don't try to interfere; whether you like it or not, I am resurrecting Deliora."

"I won't let you!" Gray snarled.

Lyon stared at the onyx-haired teen for a tense moment before he tossed his demonic helmet to the ground.

"It's just like old times," Lyon smirked as ice gathered around his hand, "but I've grown much stronger since then," An icy-blue magical circle appeared in front of his hand, **"Ice Make: Eagle!"**

A flock of icy eagles soared out of the magical circle and headed straight for Gray, who put his fist on top of his palm and slammed his joined hands into the ground.

 **"Ice Make: Shield!"**

First looks, one would assume the icy flock of eagles would collide with the shield, but it was not so. Instead of crashing against the fan-shaped shield, the eagles flew over and around it, colliding into Gray, waves of pain flooding his body.

"While your specialty is making inanimate objects, Static Ice Make Magic," Lyon said, "mine is creating living creatures, Active Ice Make Magic. Did you forget that my ice has the ability to move?"

Instead of answering, Gray jumped in the air and gathered his magic once again. He wasn't about to lose now, **"Ice Make: Hammer!"**

A giant sledgehammer flew down at Lyon, who only pointed up with two fingers, **"Ice Make: Ape!"**

A large gorilla made of ice appeared and blocked the hammer, both ice structures shattering on impact. While Gray cursed in frustration, Lyon only mocked his old friend.

"How pathetic," Lyon taunted, "You still use two hands when casting your Ice-Make spells."

"Yeah, because that's what Ur taught us," Gray disputed, "Single-handed spellcasting is incomplete and unbalanced!"

"Well, I'm the exception to that rule," Lyon boasted, "I surpassed Ur's skill a long time ago."

That statement really got under Gray's skin, "Shut your mouth!" he snarled dangerously. How dare he think himself above their master! Ur gave up everything for them!

"Regardless," Lyon continued, "ever since we were children, you've never been able to land a single hit on me."

Gray brought his hands together again, "I'm a lot stronger now than I used to be!" He slammed his hands against the ground again, **"Ice Make: Geyser!"**

A spiked column of ice erupted from the ground, engulfing Lyon, who didn't even flinch. At first, Gray thought that he had won, but then the ice cracked and shattered, revealing an unscathed Lyon.

"Nothing has changed," Lyon bragged as he continued to belittle Gray, "I was always the superior student, and I'm still stronger than you. I was able to master single-handed Ice-Make Magic, while you still rely on two hands. It's just like the old days; we may have chosen different paths, but we're frozen in time. Our rankings as wizards never changed."

Lyon raised his hand, **"Ice Make: Ice Dragon!"**

A giant ice dragon emerged from the ground that sent Gray flying into the air, and then slamming him back to earth rather painfully.

"That's why I'm restoring Deliora…to prove that I am more than Ur's star pupil," He didn't even glance at Gray's fallen form as he began to reminisce, "Even as a child, I only had one dream: to surpass Ur's abilities as a wizard. But you ruined it for me, Gray. After she died, I thought my lifelong dream of surpassing her had been dashed. But then I realized that there was still a way; if I can defeat Deliora, a demon so strong that not even Ur could vanquish it, then I will have exceeded her in power. My dream will finally become a reality!"

Clutching at his side, Gray stumbled to his feet, "Listen to me; that thing destroyed everything we ever cared about, and you want to bring it back just to prove how strong you are?! That's insane!"

Lyon's eye twitched.

"Please," Gray begged hoarsely, "you can't do this!"

Finally, Lyon's composure snapped as he sent dozens of smaller Ice Dragons at Gray from all angles, further injuring him.

" _'Please, you can't do this'_?" he echoed, "Really, is that the best you can do?" Even as Gray fell once again, Lyon continued, glaring in fury at his rival, "Funny, that's the same thing we said to you that fateful day. Surely you remember? It's because you challenged Deliora that Ur lost her life! I can't even stand you speaking her name in my presence; begone!"

With one final Ice Dragon, Lyon sent Gray careening up into the air. The battered Fairy Tail wizard let out an anguished cry as he fell to the ground. With a swish of his cloak, Lyon turned and walked away, not even bothering to look at his unconscious formal rival.

* * *

 ** _Elsewhere on Galuna Island_**

Suddenly, Natsu stopped running through the jungle, an odd chill ran down his spine. It wasn't like he got cold all of a sudden, but the kind of chill you get when you know something is wrong. Without any indication as to why, or at least from what a normal person could tell, he looked back at the temple. It was him stopping and looking back did Nero notice that the Dragon Slayer had stopped.

"Hey! What are you doing?" demanded Nero, "Why'd you stop?"

"I don't know," Natsu answered, "I just have this bad feeling about Gray. I think… I need to go back for him."

Nero had heard that kind of tone before. It was the same tone he used when he fought Dante for the second time during the Savior incident. Dante had come to reclaim his brother's sword, Yamato from him, but he needed it, to save Kyrie. He never planned on keeping it, but Dante saw something in him, and let him keep it. Guess it's time he did something similar.

"Then what are you standing around here for?" asked Nero, getting Natsu to look back at the Demon Hunter, "get back there."

"Are you sure?" Natsu asked uncertainly.

"If there's one thing my uncle taught me: it's trust your gut," replied Nero, "and if your's is telling you to get back to that temple, then you should. I'll handle Lyon's cronies, just back up Gray."

Natsu grinned and gave Nero a thumbs-up, "Thanks, man."

"Don't thank me," retorted Nero as he pointed at the temple, "just get your ass back to that headache."

Natsu dashed off back to the temple. With him gone, directed his attention back to the forest, where he took off in a powerful dash. He was running at a speed 27 times that of the average human from his world. In simpler terms, he was running just slower than the speed of sound. Perks of being a demon.

"Won't be too hard to catch up," said Nero to himself.

Weaving through the forest, the demon hunter was a literal blur. One goal in mind: take down Lyon's thugs before they reached the village. If he couldn't, well, in all honesty, he might bend Dante's 'we don't kill humans' rule this time.

* * *

 _ **Moon temple, Galuna Island**_

At top of the temple, Gray was in so much pain that he could barely even blink. In his pain-ridden state, he saw the shadow of his teacher.

 _'Get up, Gray,'_ she said, before the image resolved into Natsu, "I said, get up!"

"N-Natsu…" Gray whispered.

"Man, you got the snot kicked out of you, huh?" Natsu shook his head. "And you said you could fight him to a draw…"

"W-what are you… doing here?"

"I had a bad feeling, so I came back for yah," Natsu answered, and then started to haul Gray to his feet, "Come on; let's get you back to the village."

Gray shook off his hand, "I can walk, Natsu. Where's Lyon?"

"Dunno," Natsu told him, "After I found you, he and those chanting freaks had vanished."

Gray took a step forward, but it was all he managed before he began to fall again. He was stopped when Natsu caught him by the back of his shirt. Without speaking, Natsu hefted the ice wizard over his shoulder and began walking towards the village.

After a minute, Natsu spoke up, "Now, hang on. I'm sorry if this hurts, but I've gotta start running if we're gonna catch up to Ben and help him stop those guys."

Natsu took off at a brisk jog; it aggravated Gray's injuries, but he endured the pain. During that time, Gray remembered back when Ur had warned him against challenging Deliora, and how he had tried to convince Natsu from going to Galuna Island; both situations were fairly similar.

"Hey," he said.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry," Gray said, "I'm sorry for not believing in you and the others. I should have known better." Tears slid down his face, showing how ashamed he was for his lack of faith in his friends. Natsu stopped and looked at him.

"Quit feeling sorry for yourself because you lost a fight!" Natsu shouted, "You're a member of Fairy Tail, and we don't give up when times are tough. So put it behind you and keep moving forward!"

It was then that Gray realized that he had broken one of the guild's cardinal rules; not that he had taken an S-Class quest, but that he had been caught up in the past, instead of heading towards the future. Even as Natsu began running again, causing pain to flare across his battered body, Gray swore to never break that rule again.

* * *

 _With Nero_

The demon hunter was catching up, he was sure of this. All he needed to do was keep heading towards the village. However, what bothered him the most was that as he made his way towards the village, he didn't spot Lyon's goons once. A part of him thought that they may have made it to the village already. If that was the case, he'd make them wish they never crossed him.

However, it seemed Sherry, Toby, and Yuka would be spared from a painful-er beating because at the gate of the village, he spotted Lucy, Happy, a few transformed villagers, and...a maid with pink hair and shackles around her wrists.

"Hey!" shouted Nero as he slowed down significantly to the human equivalent of a full-on sprint. Fast to some people, but a light jog to the human demon hybrid, "Everything fine here?"

"Nero?!" cried out Lucy in confusion, spotting the silver white hair first. It was an unusual color and stood out a lot against the dark forest. However, she noticed the direction where Nero was headed, "Nero wait! Don't come any closer! STOP!"

"What?" asked Nero as he slowed down, however as he came to a stop, he did so on top of a pile of leaves, which immediately gave way. This caused him to fall into a large hole, however, it did little to stop him as he righted himself quickly and Air Hike out of the hole. This caused him to leap out and land in a crouch just before Lucy and a few villagers, shocking a few since they hadn't expected him to get out so fast.

"Some greeting...," grunted Nero as he rolled his shoulder.

"Wow," commented one of the villagers, astounded by what just happened, "that trap actually worked?"

"For the most part, yeah," another villager said with a dumbfounded expression as he turned to Lucy, "sorry we doubted you."

"Any reason that hole's there?" asked Nero, cocking an eyebrow, before noticing the pink-haired maid and jabbed a thumb at her, "And who's the maid?"

"Um, in order," Lucy said, embarrassed, "I was trying to make a trap for Lyon's guys, and this is Virgo, one of my Zodiac Spirits. She used her power to dig the hole."

"Hello, sir," Virgo said, bowing politely.

"Right, and don't call me sir," requested Nero, before looking back at the hole, noting that it was at least ten to fifteen feet deep, "Nice hole. You're gonna have to show me how you did that sometimes."

Before Virgo could respond, Natsu's voice rang out.

"Hey guys!" he jogged into the village with Gray on his shoulders, "Hey, what's with the hole?"

"What happened to him?" asked Nero, wondering what happened.

"He got beat up pretty bad," Natsu replied.

"Lucy made a hole to trap Lyon's lackeys." Happy explained, answering Natsu's second question.

"That's dumb," Natsu remarked, handing Gray off to some of the villagers, who began applying first aid.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"H-hey!" one of the villagers began pointing at the sky, "Look over there!"

Everyone looked in the direction the man was pointing and, to their shock, saw the giant rat flying in the air, using its tail as a propeller and holding a giant bucket. Yuka, Toby, and Sherry could be seen on the rat's back.

"Just when you think you've seen it all," muttered Nero, at this point, he basically gave up trying to figure out how half the things that happen here even does.

"What?!" Lucy raged, "Now my pitfall trap is totally pointless!"

"A rat can fly and you're getting upset that your hole won't work?" demanded Nero, giving an incredulous look to the busty blonde.

"What's it got in the bucket?" Natsu asked, deciding to ignore what Nero just asked. However, what got everyone's attention was the answer to his question when a glob of slime, about the size of a fist flew out of the bucket, heading right towards Lucy. The girl just stared at it.

"Jelly?" she wondered aloud, even as it closed in on her.

"Look out!" Natsu shouted, tackling her out of the way. Instead of hitting her, the jelly hit a plant that had been at her feet. When it made contact, both the plant and a few inches of earth beneath it sizzled and dissolved into nothingness.

"Jelly that's acid," stated Nero, watching as the acid and ground vanished, "and here I thought they were being nice."

"I knew it smelled deadly," Natsu growled, helping Lucy to her feet.

"T-that rat has a whole bucket of that stuff!" a villager cried, "It's gonna drop it on the village!"

Above them, the rat Angelica threw the bucket over the village, releasing a wave of jelly large enough to cover the village and everyone in it.

"How do we stop that!?" Lucy screamed.

"I need everyone to get to the center of the village!" Natsu yelled as he started to run, "Let's go, Happy!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy flew in behind the Dragon Slayer and picked him up, flying straight at the jelly.

Knowing that Natsu might need some help, Nero sprinted off at them, before jumping into the air. Upon landing, he was just below the two.

"Natsu!" he yelled, "Whatever it is you're doing, better do it quick!"

"Got it!" Natsu responded, then gathered fire around his hands, then put them together to create a massive ball of fire, **"Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!"**

With a mighty heave, Natsu hurled fireball right at the center of the jelly, causing an explosion that scattered the goo, leaving a safe area around the center of the village. However, Nero narrowed his eyes, it didn't look like it was enough. And it wasn't likely that the pyro could do it again fast enough. Grabbing the handle of Red Queen, Nero drew the sword and let the tip hit the ground.

With a firm grip, he angled the blade at a forty-five-degree arc, before spinning around, dragging the curved tip through the dirt. With a mighty swing, Nero sent a massive gust right up into the air. The resulting gust sent the acidic jelly further away.

As the wind blew the jelly further away, one of the villagers noticed that Chief Moka wasn't with them; instead, he was kneeling at his son's grave, his arms wrapped around the headstone, and there was a jelly blob headed straight for him.

"Chief, run!" the villager cried.

"No!" the old man yelled stubbornly, "I won't leave Bobo's grave!"

All the villagers cried out in fear and grief as the jelly covered their leader. As the mist created by the acid dispersed, however, a figure strode out, carrying the shaken chief.

"Do you wish to punish him for not obeying you, Princess?"

"Virgo!" Lucy cried with a smile, glad that she hadn't sent the spirit back to the Spirit World.

In the wake of the acid attack, a giant donut-shaped hole was created; nearly the entire village had been dissolved away in the ring. Thankfully, all of the villagers were safe in the unaffected area in the center.

As Nero regrouped with Natsu and Happy, who landed back on the ground just as the demon hunter sheathed his sword, they were suddenly surrounded by villagers who wanted to express their thanks and gratitude for saving their lives, even if most of the village had been destroyed. Virgo was also thanked for saving their leader's life until she disappeared back into the Spirit World. The only one who didn't speak to them was Moka, who stared at where he'd been only moments before.

"Bobo's grave is still standing," he whispered, relieved that the resting place of his son was undisturbed.

That changed, however, when Yuka's foot kicked the headstone over, causing the wizards and demon hunter to all glare angrily at the man.

"The Cold Emperor has commanded us to eradicate the village _and_ its people," Sherry said coldly as she, Yuka and Toby approached, Angelica right behind them, "We were trying to show mercy by making your deaths quick and painless. But since that didn't work, we'll have to resort to bloodshed."

"You gotta jacked up notion of painlessness, buddy," retorted Nero angrily as he drew Red Queen, planting the tip firmly in the ground, "and it's beginning to piss me off."

Lyon's lackeys ignored him.

"Three wizards, a few dozen villagers," Yuka commented arrogantly, "This shouldn't take more than, oh, fifteen minutes."

"I think I've had it with these losers. Pretty sure you'd agree," inquired Nero as he glanced at the wizards over his shoulder.

"Yeah!" Natsu said.

"These creeps are going down." Lucy stated; her tone serious.

"Aye!" Happy shouted.

Gray slowly opened his eyes as he was starting to come to. The village chief, Moka, tightened his grip on his staff as he glared daggers at the three wizards who dared to desecrate his son's grave.

"How dare they," he snarled venomously, "such disrespect! THEY KICKED OVER BOBO'S GRAVE!" Several villagers quickly grabbed the raging Moka before he could attack Yuka, Sherry, and Toby.

"Calm down, chief," One villager said.

"We have to get outta here!" Another warned.

"Yeah," a third added, "we don't wanna get caught in the middle of a magic battle."

"HURRY UP AND GET HIM TO SAFETY!" a villager commanded. They quickly responded as they dragged a resisting Moka away from the inevitable battle.

Meanwhile, Gray had actually found the strength to return to his feet, albeit shakily. "Lemme, help you…," he murmured painfully.

All four of them: Nero, Lucy, Natsu, and Happy looked back at the ice wizard, wanting to be certain they heard him correctly. The former eyeing him over his shoulder with a neutral expression. Guy couldn't even stand, let alone fight, and Nero wasn't the only one thinking that.

"Not gonna happen." Natsu rebuked. "We don't need your help."

Gray panted as he said, "Natsu… don't do this to me-," Whatever the raven-haired wizard was going to say next was interrupted as Natsu punched him in the gut.

"Just lie down and get some rest," ordered Natsu.

Gray grabbed onto Natsu's scarf, but then went limp as he reentered unconsciousness; Natsu caught him to keep him from falling to the ground.

"One way of getting someone to rest," quipped Nero as he rested Red Queen on his shoulder. Devil Bringer pulsed in anticipation. Also, it seemed that Natsu could recognize the time to be serious and the time to relax.

"But why?" Lucy asked softly, not fully understanding why Natsu would punch Gray like that.

"Because it's the right thing to do right now," answered Nero, causing Lucy to look at him, "Gray's getting some tough love and Natsu knows he's more of a liability the way he is right now. So, the only way to stop him was to make him."

Lucy looked at the pink-haired wizard with a thoughtful expression. "That means…deep down they really do care." She whispered.

A villager came up and heaved Gray over his shoulder carefully and followed the rest of the villagers to safety. The remaining wizards and Demon Hunter directed their attention back to the trio of Lyon's goons.

"I'll take on the mutt," ordered Nero, "Natsu, eyebrows is all yours. Lucy, ratatouille shouldn't be much of a problem for you."

Lucy, Natsu, and Happy all nodded, agreeing to the division. However, Toby, Yuka, and Sherry were all very offended.

"I'm not a mutt!" Toby yelled.

"Eyebrows?" Yuka repeated, his hand going to his forehead.

"R-rat-girl!? Oh, you are so dead!" Sherry screeched but was able to regain her composure before continuing, "We won't stop until everyone in this village is dead. Right, Angelica?"

The rat hissed maliciously, and then spun her tail, taking off right after Sherry hopped onto her back.

"I'm not going to let you get away with this!" Lucy yelled, leaping at the rat and grabbing one of its claws. Then, she realized what she had just done, "Oh no! I got too excited and jumped on!"

"I should be surprised, but I'm not," groaned Nero, as he facepalmed.

"Yep, she's stupid," Happy commented.

"Or insane!" Natsu added.

Lucy, deciding to make the best of the situation, was doing what she could to stop Sherry and her rat; of course, the only thing she could do was punch ineffectually at the claw she held onto. When that didn't work, she tried tickling the rat's foot; to everyone's shock, not only was Angelica ticklish, but she was so much so that she lost control and crashed in the distance!

"Wow," Yuka commented, "she's going to be ticked."

"I don't have any ticks!" Toby yelled.

"I wasn't talking to you," Yuka replied, exasperated.

"She'll be fine," assured Nero, but if he was honest, a small part of him was concerned about Lucy.

"I'll go check on her," Happy replied, sprouting his wings and flying off.

"Hey, Nero," spoke up Natsu, getting the attention of the demon hunter, "After we're done with these guys, do you mind if you could go after him?"

"Was thinking about going after Lucy to make sure she isn't in over her head," answered Nero, "and besides, this'll be quick."

With now indicator, Nero suddenly launched Spectral Bringer right at Toby from Devil Bringer. The ethereal hand grabbed the thug's face in a powerful grip. As he tried prying the fingers off, Nero pulled himself in for a dropkick that sent Toby skidding across the ground while the demon hunter stood on his chest, riding him like a skateboard. As this happened, Natsu hopped over Yuka's head and shot a breath of fire at him. Yuka only barely blocked it with a blue barrier.

"A wizard that breathes fire?" Yuka asked, "Don't tell me that you're the Salamander of Fairy Tail I've heard so much about?"

Natsu didn't reply, but he took a quick glance out of the corner of his eye to see Nero leap off Toby's chest and flip back. As he was in the air, the demon hunter drew Blue Rose with Devil Bringer since his left still held onto Red Queen and fired. Toby was shot in the stomach by two Thorns as Nero landed back on the ground.

Looking back, Nero was surprised to see Toby get right back to his feet, "I'm good!"

"You know," Yuka said, drawing Natsu's attention back to him, "we used to be in a famous guild ourselves, so neither of you should blow us off. In fact, the famous Iron Rock Jura is from the same guild; surely, you've heard of Lamia Scale?"

"Even if I did, I don't really care," Nero answered with hostility, "but I do care when people just kill innocent people for no reason."

Natsu didn't even give a snarky reply, instead, shooting another blast of fire at Yuka's face, which was blocked by another barrier.

"Hey, cut it out!" Yuka shouted, "Listen when I'm talking to you!"

"Why?" Natsu asked, "You think I care what guild you're from, or who the other members are? We came here to help these people and you're the ones who put them in danger in the first place! That makes you Fairy Tail's enemy, and that gives me more than enough reason to fight you."

"Gotta agree with flame-brain," stated Nero as he holstered Blue Rose, "I might not be in a guild, and I don't normally follow the rules, but I know when what someone is doing is wrong. And trust me, what you're doing just makes you as bad as the demons I hunt."

"Toby," Yuka said calmly, "take out the Devil-Slayer wizard. I'll handle the Salamander."

Toby growled at Nero before leaping at the demon hunter. However, he was taken by surprise when he caught Toby's fist in Devil Bringer's open palm.

"Not a smart trick," taunted Nero as he rested Red Queen casually on his left shoulder, "you know any others? Like maybe play dead?"

"I'm not a do-aaahhh!" cried out Toby as he was suddenly yanked to the side by Nero and swung into the air. The demon hybrid then smashed him into the ground, cracking it, before he was yanked up again and smashed into the ground once more. Still holding onto his fist, Nero smashed him into the ground again, leaving another impression in the earth.

Forcing Toby back to his feet, Nero performed a High Roller, Red Queen slicing through the dirt as the blade glowed blue thanks to Devil Bringer for Nero to avoid bisecting him lengthways. The edge of the sword collided with Toby's chin, sending him flying back where he landed in a heap.

"And for the record," added Nero as he shook the dust off from his hand, "I _ain't_ a wizard."

Toby hopped back to his feet and lunged at Nero, intending to grab him in a headlock, but Nero countered by bringing up Devil Bringer and Spectral Bringer, catching Toby in a Buster which Nero performed by smashing him into the ground. However, when Spectral Bringer vanished, Toby lunged at Nero again, this time, successfully getting Nero in a headlock with his left arm around his neck and started punching him in the side of the head with his right. Due to Nero's demonic heritage, all Toby accomplished was bruising his own fist.

The dog-like man jumped off and growled.

"You know," he said, "your friend over there is lucky. Yuka is tough, but I'm even stronger!" his fingernails then turned green and extended several inches, "These are my Mega-Jellyfish Paralyzing Claws! You'll never guess what they do!"

"They'll paralyze you," stated Nero sardonically whilst rolling his eyes. It was so obvious it was painful.

Toby's jaw dropped in shock.

"How did you know that?" he gasped, "Hey…you got ESP or something?"

"Wouldn't need it anyway," retorted Nero as he rested Red Queen on his shoulder, "Besides, you're just retarded."

"No one talks to me like that!" Toby yelled, swiping at Nero, who blocked the claws with Red Queen and shoved Toby away with Devil Bringer, "With one swipe from my claws, you'll be frozen, just waiting to die!"

"Let's test that," requested Nero as he held his ground, even as Toby attempted to slice him with his claws. Instead of moving out of the way, the Demon Hunter raised Devil Bringer casually to meet the claws. Due to the nature of Devil Bringer, the only thing capable of piercing its flash was Yamato, and since the sword was safely in his possession, nothing could slice into his arm; to that end, when Toby's claws collided with the demonic appendage, they shattered on impact.

"OW!" Toby cradled his wounded hand, and then glared at the demon hunter, "I'm gonna kill you for that!"

"It's you're own fault, moron," countered Nero as he caught one of the claws in the air with his hand, "you're welcome to try again."

"Oh, I will!" declared Toby as he charged once more at Nero. The thug swung his undamaged claws at the demon hunter who ducked under the slash, including the three other slashes that followed. After the third swipe, Nero suddenly lashed out with Devil Bringer and sliced at Toby's forehead.

"What was that?" taunted Toby, hardly injured by the attack.

"Just the right kind of cut above the eyes," answered Nero, before holding up a broken claw from Toby, causing his eyes to widen before falling back, paralyzed, "the kind that paralyzes."

With his opponent out of commission, Nero discarded the broken claw and turned to glance at the fight between Natsu and Yuka. This one was still going on, the Dragon Slayer kept shooting blast of fire, but each attack was blocked by the same blue barrier.

"It's useless," Yuka commented, then pointed two of his fingers like a gun, **"Wave!"**

A blue blast of energy shot forth, narrowly missing Natsu, who shot out more fire, which was easily stopped.

"The energy that I use disrupts all types of magic," Yuka explained smugly, "which means that none of your spells will work against me!"

"So that's why my fire couldn't break down his barrier," Natsu said, understanding.

"I specialize in Anti-Wizard Magic," Yuka continued, "something I was known quite well for in Lamia Scale. For you see, all wizards are helpless before me; even you!" he held out his hand again.

 **"Wave!"**

Natsu dodged another blast, the charged forward, his fists wreathed in fire, but his punch was stopped yet again by Yuka's barrier; his flames instantly extinguished.

"Using the same move isn't gonna change anything," commented Nero, however, he wasn't about to get in a fight between Natsu and this guy, seeing as how the Dragon Slayer had his pride to uphold.

"It doesn't matter what he can do, I'm not going to let him off the hook that easily!" Natsu declared.

With that, he punched his forearm clean through the barrier, inches away from Yuka's face.

 _'Look's as though it only stops his arm whenever he's using magic,'_ thought Nero, before a grim thought entered his mind, _'But I don't think doing that was the greatest idea.'_

As if giving the demon hunter his confirmation, Natsu started to scream in pain; his arm, still inside the barrier, was rippling like it was an image distorted by water.

"You put your bare arm inside of a vortex of magical energy… not smart," Yuka commented impassively.

Instead of answering, Natsu smashed forward, shoving his head and part of his torso into the barrier.

"Your magic is no match for my brute strength!" he yelled, clearly in pain, but forcing past it. He's going to beat him, one way, or another.

Nero was ready to jump in, however, he was impressed and slightly concerned for the Dragon Slayer. Impressed by his tenacity, but also concerned he bit off more than he can chew.

"It doesn't matter," Yuka said, though his composure was clearly broken, "Your flames are useless inside the vortex!"

"But I can still use them _outside_ ," Natsu grinned roguishly "and that gives me a great idea!"

A jet of fire shot out of his elbow, acting as a booster to force his fist towards Yuka's face.

 **"Fire Dragon Flame Elbow!"**

The force of the punch was enough to send a stunned Yuka flying. When he hit the ground, he didn't get up again. Natsu wiped his hands and then noticed that Nero had finished his own fight long before he did.

"Nice job, Nero," complimented the slayer, "How'd you beat dog-boy?"

"Used his own claw against him to paralyze the punk," replied Nero, nonchalantly as he sheathed Red Queen.

Natsu laughed, "Ha! That's hilarious; I wish I'd seen that!"

"You weren't too shabby on your part," replied Nero however, he gave him a serious look, "but I know for a fact that you made the flame elbow move right on the spot. Because frankly, I doubt you knew a move like that beforehand."

Natsu looked away. "Well, it worked, didn't it? Besides, those guys were a joke, anyway."

"Can't argue that," agreed Nero, "pretty sure I can promise you that one of us could've handled them just fine on our own."

Natsu then walked over to Bobo's headstone and placed it back up in its rightful place, "Here we go," Then he kneeled by it, "We're gonna find a way to change your people back to normal, Bobo. I know we will. And I promise you…we will avenge your death."

"That's a promise," added Nero, nodding in agreement.

"Hey, Nero?" asked Natsu as he stood up to turn back to the hunter, "weren't we going to go after Happy and Lucy?"

"Forgot about them for a minute," answered Nero as he sheepishly scratched his nose.

"Okay, you go after them," Natsu said, "I've got an idea about what to do with that frozen demon."

"Why do I get the feeling that your plan involves punching it?" asked Nero, narrowing his eyes, not entirely believing the Dragon Slayer had a plan that ranged beyond punching the daylights out of an object. So far, that detail was quite prevailent from what he's seen from Natsu.

"I have an actual plan, alright!" Natsu yelled indignantly, "Now go help Happy and Lucy!"

"Whatever you say, pyro," replied Nero as he turned and began to run in the direction he saw Angelica fall, "Don't make me have to come back and save your ass."

"You won't!" answered Natsu as he watched the demon hunter sprint into the forest. With Nero gone, he then looked around the area, "Now, which way was the temple, again?"

* * *

Nero sprinted through the forest, making sure his sleeve still concealed Devil Bringer after blocking a slash from dog boy. Thankfully, there were only small cuts in the fabric of his coat, easily fixed by sewing. However, his glove would certainly need to be replaced and he was too comfortable with telling everyone in the guild he was part demon.

Another thing that bothered him was that Devil Bringer hadn't stopped pulsing. In fact, whenever he was close to the temple, it pulsed even more, which lead Nero to begin thinking: was Deliora from the Demon World? If so, how did it get here?

Any more questions were halted when the demon hunter arrived at his destination, finding that the giant rat had pulled itself out of the crater if made when it crashed; thankfully, it had left large tracks for him to follow. He eventually made his way to the beach, where he found Angelica unconscious, lying next to Sherry, who was also out cold.

Nero narrowed his eyes, "Lucy's good, but she isn't the best," commented Nero as he looked around the area, analyzing the battlefield. He only knew Lucy for a day, but so far, he hasn't seen anything from her to suggest that she was this powerful. Dog boy and eyebrows hardly lasted against him and Natsu, they weren't pushovers meaning neither was Sherry.

"Nero!" cried Happy, catching the aforementioned hunter's attention, "Run for your life!"

Nero was about to ask when he heard the faintest sound behind him. Acting on instinct, he spun around and drew Blue Rose and aimed it at whoever was behind him. However, he tensed slightly when he found a sword pointed at his throat. Following the blade to the armored hand that held it and finally the owener of the arm.

"Sneaking up on a demon hunter's a good way to get yourself shot, Erza," greeted Nero cooly, despite the sword at his throat, then again, he had a gun to her head.

The Fairy Queen only gave Nero a hard stare, which caused him to chuckle.

"Why the look?"

 _ **To be Continued.**_


	7. Chapter 7 Galuna Island Part 4

_**Okay, chapter 7, still going strong. Nero has some balls, pulling a weapon on Erza Scarlet of all people! Like, despite being a fictional character, I feel that Erza would be terrifying in real life. Though it does fit Nero's character.**_

 _ **Anyway, I hope that the story is living up to your expectations, a little hard to keep to Nero's character, you know, him being a lone wolf, anti-social, short-tempered, I think I could've handled the situation at the temple a little better.**_

 _ **Also, KINGREADER, I do intend on Nero being humbled. Just be patient.**_

 _ **Anyway, onto the story.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing, as much as I want, but it's probably for the**_ _ **best.**_

* * *

 _ **Devil Tail**_

 _ **Chapter 7: Galuna Island Part 4**_

Being held a sword point; something Nero has past experiences with. So it came as no surprise that he kept a cool demeanor even as Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail Guild kept a glare leveled at him.

Something he was no stranger to receiving either.

Usually, in the past years, he received hundreds if not thousands of glares from people over the years. Whether was because he was being a smartass growing up in Fortuna, Credo for when he disrespected and sometimes ignored the rules when the former Knight was still alive, to the hundreds of demons he's slain on jobs, at least the ones that form facial expressions, and Dante when he joked at his expense.

As a result, the glare he got from Erza, barely worried him. While the sword at his throat did have his attention, he did have Blue Rose aimed right for the center of her forehead.

"So, the silent type, huh?" Asked Nero lightly, even as the woman held the sword at his throat, Nero kept his confident if borderline arrogant, attitude, "Waiting for me to explain myself?"

"Nero, I do not care what your explanation is," stated Erza, not moving her blade an inch or centimeter from Nero's throat, if anything, she moved the sword closer to it as a form of intimidation, "now lower your weapon."

"...Hmph... Seems like all the people I run into here are either complete weirdos or got sticks the size of branches shoved up their ass," Nero thought aloud as he aimed Blue Rose away and crossed his arms, seeming far more concerned with his own musings than he did having Erza's sword trained on him, "Hard to tell which one is more annoying.."

Lucy and Happy, the former sitting on the beach, tied up by Erza, the latter being held by his tail in her free hand, looked at each other incredulously even as Nero twirled Blue Rose on his finger before holstering it. The mighty Erza had her sword at his neck, but Nero acted so carefree! More so, he drew a weapon on her! The Erza Scarlet! Erza herself, on the other hand, didn't appear fazed in the slightest; instead, she gestured slightly with her sword.

"Come with me; we are going to get the others and go back to the guild," She then lowered her sword and began walking towards the village. Happy was still in her other hand while Lucy followed, though she had some trouble standing since her upper body was tied up.

However, what took everyone by surprise and angered the redhead was when the demon hunter let out a dismissive scoff.

"Right... and remind me: when exactly did I start taking orders from you?" Retorted Nero as he gave Titania a bemused expression.

The simple action, of disrespecting her orders immediately caused Erza to spin around glare harshly at the demon hunter. But the man wasn't even fazed by the intense glare. If anything, he folded his arms, like he was daring her to answer.

"Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and Gray have all broken Guild rules and must be brought back to face punishment," answered Erza keeping her glare fixated on Nero.

"So why the hell are you bothering me?" Demanded Nero as he looked pointedly at her, quickly losing his cool attitude, "In case it's failed your notice, Natsu's running around in the forest with a plan he has. Yeah, I know, I had the same look on my face when I heard about it too."

That last part was to respond to the incredulous and disbelieving looks he received from both Happy and Lucy.

"Not to mention Gray's knocked out of commission," continued the demon hunter as he held out his arms and gave the redhead and expression that made it look as though his hands were tied... albeit in a very melodramatic, nonserious manner, "besides, I can't just leave this job undone now. If I did that, it'd be like spitting on the name of my family business."

With that said, Nero began walking away, shoving passed Erza in order to head towards the forest. However, he didn't make it far before his instincts flared and he drew Blue Rose.

 _*BANG*_

Two things happened in the second that followed.

Both of which would shock Happy and Lucy who both knew Erza and what she was like. So, seeing Nero do this...they weren't sure if the demon hunter was brave or just suicidal.

Standing there facing each other, frozen in place was Nero holding out Blue Rose, aimed right at Erza, the barrel smoking while she no longer held her sword. Behind the Fairy Queen, the weapon embedded itself into the ground.

Nero. Shot. Erza.

She hated when people defied her, that was certain in her expression as her left eye blazed with fury while her right was concealed by her long hair.

Nero held a neutral expression, holding the custom revolver, the barrel pointed right at her chest. It wouldn't kill, but the action said enough, and it shocked the Fairy Tail members to the core. Nero did what he wanted or needed to do on a job, and no one would tell him otherwise.

"We _can't_ leave," stated Nero all the while maintaining eye contact, as he continued to aim Blue Rose at Erza's chest, "Gray's down and it doesn't look like he's going anywhere soon. Natsu's somewhere on this rock with a plan that is who-knows-what, and since it looks like you just got here, I'll fill you in on what's happening on this hell hole: there's a dark wizard that has a history with Gray and wants to resurrect a demon, I don't know why, and I don't care. What I do care about is the fact that the people here are caught in the middle. And have been for the last three years."

As he said each word, he stared harshly at Erza, who meet his gaze with equal intensity, "I don't care what you were told to do by the midget; I'm. Not. Leaving."

This caused Erza's anger to flare. How dare he belittle her master! After taking him in! Offering him a place to stay!

"But since I am the guy's guest, I'll play nice," conceded Nero as his eyes softened ever so slightly, lowering Blue Rose, "I'll go back to the village with you to check on Gray, make sure he's fine. But after that, if you want to turn your back on innocent people, leave them to die to a lunatic with a god complex, that's all you. Because I'm not going. I joined the pyro, the cat, and Lucy to help people."

As he said that, Nero turned his back to Erza, but glanced over his shoulder, "The only way I'm leaving this island, is when the people aren't afraid to go outside at night, and there isn't the threat of being killed by a rogue wizard."

Slowly, the wrath in Erza's expression faded to a more neutral demeanor, and she walked over to collect her sword before turning back to see Nero had faced her this time.

"I will wait until Gray is well enough to move," Erza declared, "and then I will gather Natsu and we will all leave this place. You are not a member of Fairy Tail, and thus I cannot order you to leave. However, it is dark out; for your own safety, I suggest that we do not go after Natsu until daybreak."

Erza hated it when someone defied her, but she knew that she didn't really have any authority over Nero, so the best she could do was try to keep him in one place, at least until she could come up with another way to convince him to leave the island.

"Well, if that's what it takes for you to leave me alone...," answers Nero as he turned and made his way back to the village.

He didn't want to admit it, but Erza was right; Natsu had told him that he had a plan, but he didn't know what the Dragon Slayer was going to do. Much less where he was at the immediate time, and he'd have better luck finding the fire-breather in the day. At least he got Erza off his back... for now anyway.

* * *

 _*12 hours later*_

Gray has finally woken up.

Upon doing so, he immediately took notice of two different things: one, he was in a tent, but otherwise ignorant of his surroundings. And two: the pain in his body had lessened greatly, letting him know he healed up nicely. With some effort and a little pain, he stood up though wobbled slightly. As he stabilized himself, he took notice of the bandages on his chest, shoulders, and head. Someone had nursed him back to health while he was out.

With nowhere else to go other than forward, Gray stepped out of the tent but had to shield his eyes with his hand immediately when the afternoon sun streamed down on him. Letting his eyes adjust to the sudden brightness, he lowered his arm to see around him a mass of tents, similar to the village, but it was clearly located somewhere else.

"Oh, thank goodness," a voice from behind Gray said, causing him to turn and see one of the village girls, "I'm glad you're awake."

"What is this place?" Gray asked, being careful not to stare at the girl's cursed leg, which was blue and almost insect-like.

"It's a storage area, not too far from the village," the girl answered, "Everything was destroyed in the attack last night, so we decided to come here for shelter."

"The whole village was destroyed?" Gray asked, horrified, "That's horrible."

Then he remembered Lyon ordering his lackeys to raze the village and kill everyone in it.

 _'I can't believe you actually tried to do it, Lyon,'_ Gray thought, disgusted with his fellow student.

"You know, it's a miracle that Natsu, Lucy, and Nero were here; without them, I don't think anyone in the village would have survived the attack," picked up the girl, as well as praising the efforts of his friends.

"It's a relief that no one died," Gray said, grateful for his friends' actions, "Are the others still here?"

"Lucy is, but Natsu disappeared after the fight, and Nero went after him this morning," answered the girl before pointing towards a tent, "They wanted you to meet them over in that tent."

"Thank you," thanked Gray before heading over to the aforementioned tent.

Upon walking in, what he assumed would have been a short conversation with Lucy, to bring him up to speed on what they were doing and what he had missed, turned into a completely different situation. One that made him go cross-eyed, attempting to figure out the numerous things going on inside all at once. To start with, Lucy and Happy were tied up and looking pretty miserable. Second, was the girl whose wrath haunted his nightmares, Erza Scarlet. It didn't help that she was sitting calmly, her legs crossed and her hands folded over her lap, her eyes told of a very different, very violent mood.

"You made me wait," she said in a calm, yet dark, tone, "not smart."

The only thing that kept Gray from bolting was that he was still exhausted from his fight with Lyon.

"Erza!" Gray desperately wracked his brain for something to take the heat off of himself, "Um, why are Lucy and Happy tied up? And why _isn't_ Nero?"

"Lucy informed me of the situation," Erza replied, not answering Gray's first question, "and Nero is not a member of the guild, thus I have no control over him. He went off into the forest to find Natsu."

If Gray wasn't worried that Erza might kill him, he might have noticed that Erza's expression darkened slightly when she mentioned Nero. But if it was out of spite or just stupidity, Happy chose to speak up.

"Also Nero would shoot Erza if she tried," commented Happy, though immediately began sweating when he saw Erza glare at him from the corner of her eye.

"Wait, what?!" gaped Gray. Did he hear that correctly? Did Nero shoot-

"As it is," Erza continued, cutting off Gray's train of thought, "I thought that you had been sent to stop these fools, not join them; needless to say, I'm disappointed. However, now that you're up, we're going to search for Natsu and Nero, and then we will go back to the guild."

"But we can't leave the island just yet!" Gray objected, "If Lucy filled you in, then you know what these villagers are going through!"

Erza barely glanced at him, "And what would be your point? I came here solely for the purpose of taking you all back to the guild. I'm not interested in anything other than that."

"Seriously!?" Gray yelled, "Have you even seen the people on this island!?"

"I have," Erza said evenly.

"And you're just gonna turn your back on them!?" Gray demanded, shocked at what he was hearing.

"Their request is posted on the Request Boards of every guild hall. The villagers would be better served by wizards who are cleared for S-Class quests. You, on the other hand, are not qualified," countered Erza, though she remembered a conversation with Nero earlier before he left to go after Natsu.

"How can you be so heartless?" Gray accused.

Erza whirled around, furious. "What did you say!?"

As cold as Erza acted, she was far from heartless; she did everything in her power to make sure that innocents were spared from pain and suffering. However, the safety of her guild, her family, would always take precedence over the safety of strangers. If she had to live with guilt over that later, she would, but the guilt would be tempered by the knowledge that those she cared for were safe.

A red magic circle appeared in front of her hand, and a sword emerged. She grabbed the hilt and pointed the blade at Gray.

"If you break the guild's rules, then you will face the consequences."

Gray flinched but then steadied himself. To everyone's shock, he grabbed the blade and placed the tip over his chest, right above his blue guild mark.

"Do what you must," Gray declared, steel in his voice, "I can't walk away from what I know is right."

For what seemed like an eternity, neither Gray nor Erza broke eye contact. Finally, Erza lowered the sword, and Gray walked to the tent-flap.

"I'm seeing this through to the end… and you can't stop me," Gray proclaimed before he walked out.

After he was gone, Erza trembled in anger, before leveling a glare at the bound Happy and Lucy, causing them to panic. They thought that Erza would take her rage out on them.

"We're sorry!" Lucy shrieked, "We have no control over any of them!"

"Gray's not feeling too good," Happy added desperately, "because he lost a fight with his old friend!"

Faster than either of them could blink, Erza swung her sword, slicing through the ropes that held them.

"These events are intolerable," Erza said, "but we'll deal with the immediate problem first; we're going after them!"

"Hooray!" both Lucy and Happy cheered.

"This doesn't change anything," Erza growled, "You're still going to face punishment."

Their faces fell, "Yes, ma'am."

* * *

 _*Elsewhere*_

"Oh man, this sucks," Natsu groaned to himself as he finally made it to the temple, "I came up with a great plan, but then I got lost and fell asleep!"

"Should be glad you made it at all," said Nero's voice, from behind the Dragon Slayer. The sudden sound caused Natsu to spin around, only to find no one there, "up here!"

Spinning around again, Natsu saw Nero sitting on top of the entrance into the temple, his right leg crossed over his left, Red Queen idly resting on his shoulder as he used Devil Bringer to lean on. On the Demon Hunter's face was a smug grin.

"Nero?" called Natsu, a little confused as to why he's here, "How'd you know I'd be here? And how'd you get around me?"

"Wasn't hard to figure out your plan," answered the hybrid as he jumped down and gracefully landed in front of the Dragon Slayer, "Said that you had a plan to stop the demon from coming back, and since the Big D is beneath the temple, figured you'd come here. Don't really know what your plan is, or what you're gonna do...but whatever it is, it better work. And to answer your second question: I'm a demon hunter, it's my job to track and find. But seriously? You got lost?"

Natsu scowled while Nero just snorted in amusement, "Hey, it's not my fault. I'm used to searching for stuff from the air with Happy!"

"Either way, you're here," waved off Nero, "Better get to work, cause Erza's looking to get her hands on you and drag you back to Fairy Tail. Kicking and screaming if necessary."

"Erza's here?!" Natsu immediately panicked.

"And pretty pissed when I ran into her," elaborated Nero before shrugging, "Well, more pissed now after I shot her."

"WAIT!? YOU SHOT ERZA!?" screamed Natsu, his body losing all its color while he looked at Nero like the guy wanted to die.

"Don't know what you're getting so worked up about," said Nero as he sheathed Red Queen, "She drew her sword on me and tried to force me back and I responded. Plus, last I checked, I don't work for Fairy Tail, so her orders aren't worth crap. Couldn't stop me from helping you even if she wanted to."

"Great!" said Natsu, grinning and forgetting about his fear and shock about what Nero did to Erza, "Let's go! I'm all fired up!"

"Glad to hear to it," chuckled Nero as he gave the Dragon Slayer a crooked grin before turning to the temple, "Now, Let's Rock!"

* * *

 _ **Within Temple**_

Lyon stared at his remaining subordinate, his arms crossed, "How pathetic," he commented, "you're the only one still standing, Toby?"

The dog-man in question shifted nervously, sweat growing on his brow.

Lyon sat down on a throne made of stone, "Those Fairy Tail wizards, and the Demon Slayer who was with them...they're quite impressive and resourceful as well if they knew to use your own claws against you."

Toby flinched, putting one hand against the bandage on his forehead, "Hey, can we keep the whole 'used my own claws against me' thing a secret?"

A new voice intruded on the conversation, "This unfortunate turn of events could put the resurrection of Deliora in jeopardy."

Toby jumped at the sudden appearance of a small, hunched man who wore red clothes, a gray cloak and a red, horned mask that covered the upper half of his face. His mouth, the only visible part of his face, showed a wide grin.

Lyon hid his surprise well, not even batting an eye, "Zalty, you're as stealthy as ever."

The man known only as Zalty was an enigma to Lyon and his allies; though he had provided them with good information, he never cowered nor groveled before Lyon's power.

"If all goes as planned," Zalty said, "the demon should awaken at some point tonight, but we have to keep an eye on those wizards. If they were to interrupt the Moon Drip ceremony, then Deliora would forever remain entombed in ice. Salamander and Titania are very powerful, as is that Demon Slayer Wizard, and there is a good chance that they could foil our plans."

"As per usual," Lyon replied calmly, "you appear remarkably well-informed. However, I can't say that I'm worried. Those fools may be strong, but they're no match for me."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Zalty said eagerly, "so it's very reassuring to hear. Still, allow me the honor of joining you in battle."

"Hold up…you're a wizard!?" Toby asked, shocked.

"Yes," Zalty answered, "it's been a while since I used it, but I've dabbled in a particular kind of Lost Magic."

Lyon considered it for a moment. Zalty hadn't done anything to betray his cause, "Sure, we could use another wizard."

Zalty opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when the temple suddenly began to shake!

"Is it an earthquake?" Toby asked worriedly.

"I don't think so," Lyon said. The shakes were coming in little bursts, not a long quake, and it seemed to be happening on only one side of the temple. Toby, however, hadn't figured it out yet.

"It's all coming down!"

Finally, with one last rumble, the temple suddenly tilted to one side, nearly causing Lyon, Toby and Zalty to lose their balance and fall. They thought that it was over, but then a blast of fire ripped its way up through the floor, nearly frying them.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Lyon demanded. Zalty looked into the hole in the floor and grinned.

"I should have known that Salamander would make the first move, though I would have thought he'd come alone; it seems he brought the Demon Slayer wizard with him as well."

Below the gathered Wizards, at least a dozen levels beneath the temple stood Natsu and Nero. The latter had Devil Bringer smashed into the floor, along with Spectral Bringer, though definitely enlarged. Around the hunter's fist were dozens of cracks that spread out from where Nero punched the floor, along with Spectral Bringer that created a massive crater.

"Gotta say, feels good to prove you wrong," joked Nero smugly as he waved the dust off his arm and Spectral Bringer vanished.

"Yeah, yeah, don't go rubbing it in," Natsu grumbled good-naturedly, "I'm just glad that I had help for this. Usually, I break stuff by accident. I'm not used to destroying stuff on purpose."

"What are you two doing here!?" Lyon demanded, enraged.

"We're knocking this place over," Natsu retorted.

"Personally, I would've gone after the demon and put a bullet in its head," commented Nero, "but knocking this place down, we'd be doing a big favor to the community."

Before the two began demolishing the Moon Temple, Natsu more or less explain that magic, in general, followed a path set by the direction of a magic circle to Nero. If the circle from the Moon Drip was offset, the light would no longer be able to shine right down onto Deliora; and if they moved the temple enough, not at all.

Nero had to give credit to the Dragon Slayer, he's a lot smarter than he let on. So after revving up Red Queen, the pair used the time they had to destroy several columns that supported the temple; Natsu using his enhanced strength and fire while Nero used Red Queen, Devil Bringer, and his own natural strength. The two taking down the columns had already caused the temple to become unstable, even more so now.

"How dare you!" Lyon raged, "Who do you think you are!?"

"Thought I told you this already," snorted Nero as he rested Red Queen on his shoulder, "I'm a Demon Hunter."

Natsu decided not to engage in any sort of banter; instead, fire shot out of the bottom of his feet, propelling him upwards like a rocket.

"Guess you're full of surprises," remarked Nero as he suddenly shot towards Lyon with Natsu. Half way between them, he summoned Spectral Bringer and sent the ethereal appendage right at him.

"What kind of magic is that!?" asked Lyon, shocked before Spectral Bringer smashed right into him, sending the wizard skidding back.

Taking the advantage, Natsu wrapped his own body in flames and collided, head first with Lyon.

 **"Fire Dragon Sword-Horn!"** the impact didn't even slow Natsu down; he and Lyon were nearly at the ceiling when the ice wizard's body began to crack like glass and then shattered.

"You kill?" asked Nero, seeing the hit Lyon just take, "If you did, I think this look suits him better."

"No, he didn't," Lyon's voice came from behind them, "He hit my Ice Fake."

"Good...," stated Nero as he spun around, drawing Blue Rose with Devil Bringer and fired right at the wizard. The two Thorns that erupted from the silver revolver's barrel connected with Lyon's forehead, snapping his head back.

Lyon grimaced, remembering that this Demon Hunter was much more powerful than he originally realized. So, taking out the easier target was the first thing he'd do. Focusing on Natsu, the Salamander had just started his descent.

"Let's see you dodge in midair!" Lyon held out his hand. "Ice Make: Eagle!"

The flock of Ice Eagles darted towards the falling Dragon Slayer, but Natsu only angled his face upwards and shot a breath of fire, propelling him right towards Nero who held out Spectral Bringer and caught the Slayer. Bringing him out of danger.

"Sweet moves you got there," complimented Nero, setting him down, "You'd make a good demon hunter."

"Thanks," Natsu said, grinning; then his smile disappeared, "Look out!"

Without even looking, Nero aimed Blue Rose right at another flock of Ice Eagles. putting himself between Natsu and the approaching Magic, the hunter fired several shots, each one colliding with at least one Eagle. As strong as the ice might be, even it isn't strong enough to contend with steel bullets. After shooting out the Eagles, Nero continued to fire, forcing all three enemy wizards to duck.

After ceasing fire, Nero had to reload, Natsu hopped on to his shoulder's in a handstand and began to spin his legs around, firing jets of fire from both feet. Lyon managed to dodge again, but in doing so, he ended up in midair, allowing both Natsu and Nero, who had finished reloading, to fire their respective ranged attacks at the Cold Emperor. However, Nero threw a little extra in, channeling some power from Devil Bringer into Blue Rose. The result was a powerful Charged Shot.

Just before the attacks hit, Zalty held out a hand, and the floor beneath the two suddenly grew brittle and turned to dust, sending the two plummeting to the lower levels of the temple.

"Very fortunate, Cold Emperor," the masked man remarked, "luck is on your side."

Luck, however, wasn't on the side of Toby, who had been scorched by one of Natsu's attacks.

"Can we keep the whole 'Toby got charred' thing a secret too?" he whined pitifully.

"What did you do?" Lyon asked, suspicious of Zalty's unknown magic.

"Whatever do you mean?" Zalty asked innocently.

"Don't play dumb with me," Lyon snapped, "Your magic had to have caused that hole in the floor."

"Heh, don't you have ever the watchful eye?" Zalty commented, "Please allow me to explain my actions, sir. You're the only one strong enough to defeat Deliora, so it's imperative that you remain safe until his resurrection."

The air around Lyon became dense with a cold fog, "Are you suggesting that I could fall victim to such paltry magic?"

With a twitch of his finger, the floor, walls, and ceiling of the room they were in became coated in a thick layer of ice. The only parts that didn't freeze over were the parts of the floor that the three stood on, and the hole that Natsu and Nero had fallen through.

"Leave me," Lyon commanded, just as Nero and Natsu get back up, "I can take care of this myself. Once I finally defeat the demon, everyone will worship my name, Cold Emperor Lyon. I've worked too hard to let these two brats tarnish this day."

"Guy's overestimating himself," commented Nero to the pryomaniac, holstering Blue Rose in the process.

"Yeah," Natsu agreed, and then directed his attention back to Lyon. "Why do you want to fight Deliora? The thing looks half dead already! You're going to all of the trouble to melt that ice just so you can fight it!?"

"On paper and in practice, it's very dumb," agreed Nero, "but I wouldn't put it behind me that Deliora's dead."

"I must rise above Ur's legacy," Lyon declared, even as he sent another wave of Ice Eagles at the two, "I will not rest until I have fulfilled my dream!"

"Why go this far?" asked Natsu, dodging the incoming eagles while Nero used either Red Queen or Blue Rose to take out the spell, "Can't you just challenge Ur and be done with it?"

"I would if I could!" Lyon snapped, "But Ur has been dead for years, and it's all Gray's fault! If he hadn't challenged Deliora to a fight, Ur wouldn't have had to sacrifice herself to seal the demon away!"

Natsu remembered Gray telling him that Ur had sacrificed everything fighting Deliora, "I didn't know that she'd died sealing it."

Distracted by the revelation, Natsu didn't notice the Ice Eagle until it was inches from his face; it was only stopped when Nero shot the Eagle, turning it into ice particles.

"Going off the deep end, buddy," commented Nero as he directed his attention right towards Lyon, "You wanna be better than your master, and you're pissed off, I get that. But putting innocent people at risk; I won't claim to know Ur, but if I had to guess, if she was willing to sacrifice herself to stop this demon, I'm gonna guess she'd want you to stop what you're doing."

"How dare you!" Lyon sent a wave of ice at Nero, who raised Devil Bringer and opened his hand, allowing the impact of the ice to collide with his open palm. The result was the blast of ice that exploded out and dissipated while Nero's arm lost its glow.

Despite being outnumbered, as well as facing an elemental disadvantage, Lyon was doing an admirable job of fending off his opponents, matching them move-for-move. Still, all three fighters knew that sooner or later, Lyon would either make a mistake or simply run out of energy, while Natsu and Nero had plenty of energy to boot.

"Getting real tired of this man," drawled Nero as he pointed Red Queen at Lyon, "do yourself a favor and throw in the towel."

"I'd never give you that satisfaction," Lyon calmly replied.

"Oh, you're asking for it," Natsu said, his fist wrapped in flames.

Just as they were about to clash again, the wall next to them began to crack, until it shattered, revealing Gray!

"Wondering when you'd show up, Gray," greeted Nero, though he was surprised, to an extent to see Gray here, but from what he's seen, it wouldn't have been long before he showed up, "Nice to see you up and around. Lucy and Erza bringing up the rear?"

"They're fighting those robed goons. They shouldn't have too much trouble. Now, both of you back off," Gray said to Nero and Natsu, "it's time Lyon and I ended this once and for all."

"No way, man!" Natsu told him, "You already lost to him once!"

"And it won't happen again," Gray countered confidently, "I'm ready this time."

"You seem awfully cocky," Lyon said.

The raven-haired wizard was quiet for a moment, "You were right, Lyon," Gray admitted, "I am responsible for Ur's death."

Lyon's eyes narrowed. What was he up to?

"But you're no better," Gray continued, "You threatened my friends, brought harm to the villagers and now you're trying to destroy what Ur gave her life to create. It's time we faced our punishment together."

Gray widened his stance, stretching out his arms, and then crossing them at the wrists. While Nero and Natsu looked on confused, as for Lyon, he looked downright terrified.

"That stance… not the Iced Shell!"

Both Nero and Natsu were shocked; they knew that Ur had used the technique Iced Shell to seal Deliora away. It was also what killed her. Was Gray planning to make the same sacrifice?

"Are you insane?" Lyon demanded, "You wouldn't dare!"

"If you want to live," Gray said, "change the villagers back to their human forms, and then leave this island and never return!" An icy-blue magic circle appeared under Gray's feet. "If you'll agree to that, I'll stop; otherwise, this is the end."

Lyon's confident smirk returned, "Is that so? Well, I don't believe a word of it. You're bluffing!"

In response, a torrent of ice began to spread from the magic circle.

"No, I'm not," Gray responded, his tone deadly serious.

"You'll die!" Lyon tried to use his own magic to block the attack, but it was blown away by the sheer power of Gray's spell.

"Don't do it!" shouted Natsu, as he was nearly blown back by Gray's magic, had it not been for Nero who plunged Red Queen into the ground. Using Devil Bringer, he grabbed Natsu's wrist and held on.

"Gray, you're crazy!" shouted Nero, over the power of the spell, "killing yourself isn't the right way to beat him!"

"All these years, I've lied to myself," Gray voiced, "I didn't want to admit that Ur died because of me, but she did, and it's time I took responsibility. So I will, here and now. I'm not afraid to die if that what it takes!"

"Stop this now!" Lyon was practically pleading.

"What's it going to be, Lyon?" Gray demanded, "Are we going to die, or are we going to live? It's up to you!"

"You wouldn't," Lyon said, a hint of a sneer on his face, "you're not brave enough to give your life! You're too much of a coward!"

"Just watch me," Gray whispered.

 _'Natsu, Nero, all my friends in Fairy Tail,'_ thought Gray as he continued his spell, despite his own reservations, _'the rest is up to you. I don't want to leave, but my time is up.'_

 **"Ice Sh-** Ahh!"

Gray's spell was interrupted by a loud crack and the projectile that struck him in the left shoulder. His right arm instinctively going right for it. As he was stunned, Nero stormed right up to him, leaving Red Queen embedded in the floor as Blue Rose was in his left. Natsu had fallen to ground when Nero let go of him and sat up just in time to see the Demon Hunter slug Gray right in the jaw, knocking him to his knees, stunned. Using this opening, Natsu ran over and grabbed both of Gray's arms and held them behind his back.

"Just what in the actual, fucking hell, are you trying to accomplish?" demanded Nero, deadly calm. Usually, whenever Nero got pissed off, he'd let a person know by losing his cool and kicking there ass. However, when he got really, really pissed, he didn't lash out, immediately. Instead, he acted completely calm and reserved.

"What about you two!?" Gray shot back, struggling to break Natsu's arm-lock, "When I got here, the first thing I said was to get back!"

"And I said no way!" Natsu growled.

"I've got a score to settle with this guy!" Gray protested.

"Just how exactly is killing yourself going to accomplish _'settling a score_?" asked Nero rhetorically, "Leaving us to clean up your mess after you died, that's something a demon would do. A coward would do."

Gray flinched, and then slumped. He hadn't consciously thought about it, but perhaps he really had been using the Iced Shell as an excuse to escape the guilt. While he felt terrible about what happened to Ur, the thought of leaving his friends to pick up the pieces after he was gone made him feel even worse.

Before Gray could apologize, the room began to shake.

"Oh, what now?" asked an exasperated Natsu.

The room, as well as the rest of the temple, had been resting at an angle; however, it was now falling back to its original position. In a few moments, it was as if the damage that Natsu and Nero had done was never received, to begin with.

Nero looked around confused, and quite frankly, annoyed while Natsu released Gray and began stomping the ground in frustration. What's happening?

"This is bad," Gray said, getting back up, "Now the moon's gonna shine on Deliora!"

"Pardon the interruption," Zalty said, entering the room. He had slipped out during the fight between Lyon, Natsu, and Nero.

"I should have known," Lyon said calmly, "You did all this?"

"The moon will be out soon," Zalty replied, "So I thought I'd straighten the temple for you."

"That weirdo fixed the temple all by himself?" Gray asked; impressed by the level of power that must have required.

"And after all the trouble we went through to mess it up, too," Natsu complained. He then shook his fist at Zalty, "Hey, so what'd you do to fix it, huh?"

Zalty looked at Natsu in surprise as if noticing him for the first time, and then laughed maniacally.

"TELL ME HOW YOU FIXED IT, YOU JERK!" Natsu screamed.

"Well, if everything else is in order, I'll go prepare the Moon Drip ceremony," Zalty stated before running off down a corridor.

"Would you quit ignoring me, you masked freak!" Natsu shouted as he began to chase after him.

"Getting really tired of this shit," growled Nero, extremely pissed off with Zalty.

Before Natsu left the room, he spun around and pointed at Gray, "Nero and I'll handle the masked jerk. I'll leave Lyon to you."

"You sure that's a good idea?" asked Nero, questioning whether or not to listen to the Dragon Slayer.

Gray was also surprised, after all, he had almost killed himself. Now Natsu was trusting him to beat Lyon?

"Yeah," Gray said determination in his tone.

"Not just for you," Natsu continued.

"I know what you mean," Gray, as well as Natsu, both said, "but for all of Fairy Tail!"

"Well, they do say to take pride in your job," thought Nero aloud.

With everything said that was needed to be said, Natsu took off after Zalty while Nero gave Gray a two-fingered salute, walking by Red Queen before kicking it up and caught it with his left hand. Once he had the blade, he sheathed it and quick sprinted after the Dragon Slayer.

"My, my," Lyon said after they left, "Such a boisterous group you are."

"Let me ask you something, a second ago, when I was gonna freeze us both, were you counting on either Natsu or Nero to stop me before I could finish?" He inquired.

"No," Lyon answered, "the opposite, in fact. I never thought that anyone would be foolish enough to get near a spell like that."

"So you were just going to stand there and take the hit?" Gray asked, surprised.

"Exactly," a smug Lyon said, "Because someone would come to rescue me. You, on the other hand, would be finished for good."

"I should have known," Gray murmured to himself.

"Certainly, it would have been inconvenient." Lyon continued. "However, my allies are as devoted to my cause as I am, and as long as we're on this island, they can use Moon Drip to melt the ice whenever they saw fit."

Gray looked down. "I didn't think of that. I guess the Iced Shell is completely useless here."

'And my sacrifice would have been for nothing,' he thought; at that moment, he was grateful that Nero had stopped him when he did.

"Even so," Lyon said, "you still want to fight? After what happened last time?"

Gray didn't reply.

"Don't fool yourself," Lyon laughed, "you could never…"

"That's enough," Gray interrupted.

"What?"

"Just forget about Deliora," Gray said softly.

"What kind of nonsense is this?" Lyon asked, genuinely confused. "Your threats don't work, so you turn to begging? Does your guild have dentist that removes your fangs, or are you just a coward?"

"Lyon, there's something I have to tell you," Gray said.

"What is it?" Lyon asked, now annoyed. What did this liar and hypocrite have to say that was so important?

"Ur… is still alive."

* * *

"Natsu, dial it back a notch," Shouted Nero, sprinting after the Dragon Slayer. He could easily outrun him, but he knew better than to expose himself that much. Especially with the sneak attack the masked prick was planning.

"No way!" Natsu called back, chasing the still-fleeing Zalty, "Not until he tells me how he fixed the temple!"

Finally, Zalty stopped running and pointed his hand at the spot above Natsu; a chunk of the ceiling came loose and fell right at him!

"Saw that coming," muttered Nero to himself as he suddenly dashed forward, Devil Bringer stretched out as Spectral Bringer sped towards Natsu and Snatched him away from the falling debris, "ever head of 'look before you leap'? If you did, you'd know that he was planning a sneak attack."

"Sorry," Natsu said sheepishly. He then noticed that Zalty wasn't done. The masked man waved his hand, and the chunk of ceiling lifted back to where it was the damage disappearing like it was never there.

"That's how I fixed the temple," Zalty explained.

"Time manipulation," guessed Nero as he rested Red Queen in his shoulder. It wasn't all that different from Dante's Quicksilver style. While this allowed Zalty more control, Nero could still figure out what it was.

And it was safe to say he assumed correctly because the aforementioned wizard whipped around to the demon hunter, a look of surprise on his face.

"Yes, I did. How did you figure it out so quickly?" Demanded Zalty.

"My uncle can slow down time to a crawl if he wants to," answered Nero evenly, "but even he's more subtle when using it than you."

"Hmph," Zalty appeared a bit put out, "Still, this magic is extremely rare, rare enough that it is one of the Lost Magics, a type of magic so powerful and dangerous that it has been lost to history."

"With a name like that, not too surprising," commented the demon hunter.

"Your Dragon Slayer magic is another example of Lost Magic," Zalty continued, gesturing at Natsu.

"Wow, really?" Natsu asked, completely surprised by the revelation.

"Aren't you supposed to know what the magic is your using?" Asked Nero, looking at the Dragon Slayer incredulously.

Before Natsu could reply, Zalty laughed and vanished, much to the irritation of his opponents.

"Getting really tired of this," growled Nero as he justs wants to get this over with now. However, he did have an idea on how he was going to beat this guy now. Problem is, this might expose Devil Bringer to Natsu, and Nero really didn't need that attention.

* * *

Shock.

Absolute shock is what Lyon felt.

It had been a good minute after what Gray just told him. And in that time, Lyon didn't move a muscle, staring at his former friend with wide eyes. Was he suggesting that...

"The Iced Shell doesn't actually kill its caster," Gray went on, feeling that Lyon deserved to know now, "it uses their body to form the barrier; the ice keeping Deliora sealed away, which you've been trying to melt, is Ur. She isn't dead; she lives on in that ice."

Silence.

Lyon said nothing. Only continued to stare at Gray.

I'm sorry that I never told you the truth back then." Gray apologized sincerely. "Ur made me promise to keep it a secret. She worried that if you knew, you'd spend the rest of your life trying to change her back."

"Of course," Lyon mumbled.

"It's over," Gray declared, stepping closer to Lyon. "There's no reason to go through with this anymore."

Lyon raised his hand, but before Gray could react, he placed it against Gray's right side and sent an icicle straight through him! Gray fell to his knees, clutching the wound in agony; it didn't feel like it hit anything vital, but it still hurt.

"You idiot," Lyon said, "I know how the spell works. I can assure you that she isn't alive anymore. That's nothing more than a chunk of ice!"

Gray pulled the ice out of his side and tried to rise. "You… you knew all along?"

"Knowing is one thing, believing is another, and if you truly believe that Ur is alive in there, then you're an even bigger fool than I thought."

"You knew the truth?" Gray said through teeth clenched in pain and rage, "And you still did this!?"

"And what of it?" Lyon asked as Gray got to his feet. Before he could react, Gray had covered the distance between them and delivered a punch that sent him flying into the wall.

"I-impossible!" Lyon gasped, "How can you move with that wound?"

"Enough," Gray snarled coldly, "I wanted to save you, but I give up now."

Lyon staggered to his feet. "You want the title of star pupil for yourself? Well I'm sorry, but I have to fight against Deliora soon, and I'd rather not waste my magic energy on you."

Gray took a fighting stance. "Then we'll just use our fists instead!"

"Ha! You want me to fight you without using magic? That's fine by me."

Gray made the first move charging forward, but Lyon moved around his punch and struck him in his wound, nearly making him fall to the ground again.

"Aim for your opponent's weak spot, then hit it with all your might." Lyon mocked. "Ur taught us that, remember?"

"You have no right to speak her name!" Gray attacked again, but Lyon drove his knee into Gray's gut, winding him.

Stunned, Gray was left wide open for a barrage of punches and kicks from Lyon.

"What a shame," Lyon said, sounding bored, "your fists are as weak as your magic."

Every time Gray tried to attack, Lyon would counter, sending him hurtling to the floor or into a wall. Despite that, Gray actually started to smile. His own stubbornness reminded him of all the times that he and Natsu had fought when they were younger. He hadn't given up then, and he wouldn't give up now! He got up one more time; seeing this sent Lyon into a rage.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance!" he yelled, both men's fists hitting the other's face; for a moment, they were stuck like that, before a burst of strength from Gray sent Lyon crashing into another wall.

"You're gonna have to step up your game if you want to beat me!" Gray shouted. Lyon rushed forward again and the two began exchanging hits. "I've never given up before, and I won't give up here! I'm not going to lose to you!"

With a final roar, Gray sent Lyon flying, and this time, he didn't charge back in; instead, Lyon used a chunk of ice to drag himself upright, panting heavily.

"The Cold Emperor," he said angrily, "defeated in battle by the likes of you!? I won't stand for it!"

"Then get over here," Gray panted, "and fight!"

Gritting his teeth, Lyon pointed his hand at Gray. **"Ice Make: Ice Dragon!"**

A giant dragon of ice flew at Gray, clamping its jaws on the wizard; fortunately, Gray was able to break the ice enough that he was able to fall out of the construct's mouth. Still, it was another painful wound.

"I thought we agreed not to use magic, Lyon!" Gray yelled, getting back up.

"Don't be such a poor loser," Lyon said, "This duel was pointless from the start. Deliora will be revived either way; it's far too late to stop me now!"

"I won't stop trying!" Gray declared defiantly.

"Try all you want," Lyon asserted, "but Zalty is preparing the Moon Drip ceremony as we speak."

"Natsu and Nero won't let him!" Stated Gray, a smile on his face, "The second you underestimate Natsu is the second you lose, and Nero is stronger and way more clever than anyone I've ever met. Your friend doesn't have a prayer."

* * *

Zalty stood before the frozen form of Deliora, his grin in full force.

"At long last," he whispered, before the sound of yelling made him dodge a fiery punch.

"There you are!" Natsu yelled. "I'll burn that stupid smile right off your face!"

Zalty dodged another attack, this time a shot from Blue Rose, courtesy of Nero.

"Thought we agreed to wait until I got in position before attacking him," Commented Nero as he fired several more shots at the man, each one striking the ground just after he passed.

"I couldn't help it." Natsu protested. "He pisses me off!"

Zalty laughed. "The term 'hot-headed' certainly applies to you, Salamander. By the way, how did you manage to find me?"

"I followed my nose," Natsu answered, "For some reason; you reek of lady's perfume."

"Okay, that's just weird," said Nero, looking at Zalty curiously.

Zalty laughed it off, "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have other things to do."

"Got an appointment for a manicure?" Taunted Nero.

"Like reviving Deliora," Zalty responded.

"Just forget about it already," Natsu said confidently, "It's not gonna happen."

"Really?" Zalty asked in mock-concern. "Why is that, pray tell?"

"Because Gray is gonna kick that ice-guy's butt," Natsu retorted with confidence.

"And that's leaves you with us," finished Nero as he pointed Red Queen at the man, while holstering Blue Rose.

"We'll just see about that," Zalty said in an almost-serious tone, and then pointed at Deliora.

To the shock of Natsu and the annoyance of Nero, there was a stream of Moon Drip hitting the ice!

"Someone's performing the ceremony?" Natsu asked, confused on what was going on and how that is possible.

"Lucy and Erza said they'd handle the chanters," growled Nero.

"They took out the chanters," Zalty confirmed, "but Toby snuck out during the fighting and is performing the ceremony on his own. It won't be much Moon Drip with only one person, but it will only take a little more to free the demon anyway."

Sure enough, a huge chunk of the ice began to crack and shatter, causing Natsu to panic.

"Ah! I gotta get up there and stop him!" he rushed to the exit, but Zalty used his magic to once again send a chunk of ceiling falling at him. Natsu barely dodged in time.

"I'm afraid that neither of you are going anywhere," Zalty said with a sadistic smile, "I guess chasing me was a mistake."

"No," seethed Nero as he leaped at Zalty, Red Queen blazing as Nero twisted the handle of the Exceed to full, "trying to bring back a demon, turning people into demons, and trapping us in here with you is a mistake!"

As he said this, Nero flipped in the air and impaled the tip of Red Queen into the floor, causing a fireball to bloom out around him. Even as Zalty managed to dodge at the last second.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Zalty asked, "You might make the ice melt faster."

Natsu sent a breath of his own fire Zalty's way, only barely missing him, "If the ice could be melted with fire, you wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble! Bluff all you want, but once we're done here; all we gotta do is stop the ceremony!"

"And here I was, thinking you weren't that clever," Zalty laughed, "but it seems that I was wrong."

Behind the combatants, the frozen body of Deliora began to shake; the vibrations were strong enough to make the entire temple shudder.

* * *

"Why do I get the feeling that that wasn't Natsu or Nero?" Gray asked, feeling the temple shake.

"The ceremony is nearing completion," Lyon said triumphantly, "the ice sealing Deliora is melting away."

'Ur…' Gray thought.

"There's nothing you can do," Lyon bragged, "it's too late to stop it! You and your friends have failed!" an icy mist gathered around him, "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for this, Gray? All these years, I've been gathering allies and obtaining knowledge; it was fortunate that I found this place." He sent a flock of Ice Eagles at Gray, who barely dodged them. "It wasn't an easy task, transporting Deliora to Galuna, and the Moon Drip has taken three years!"

Backed into a corner, Gray raised an Ice Shield, letting the Ice Eagles shatter against it, "You've been working on this stupid plan for three years!?"

"Stupid!?" echoed an outraged Lyon, "How dare you say that! You've spent the last ten years peddling your life away in some foolish guild!"

Finally, Lyon's barrage broke Gray's shield, but he was able to dodge Lyon's latest attack. "Because I put my faith in what Ur taught us! She said that in the western countries, there were lots of strong wizards to teach me; so I went west, and I joined Fairy Tail. I asked Master Makarov if he knew any way to break the spell, but he said there wasn't, except for one way; he wouldn't tell me what it was, but I bet he was thinking about the Moon Drip."

Gray looked at Lyon with cold hatred. "After everything Ur did for us, taking us in, raising us, training us… you'd still kill her without a second thought. You make me sick."

"Say what you will, I don't care," Lyon responded, "My entire life has led up to this moment. Our master is long dead; if we want to prove that we have surpassed her, what can we do in her absence?" a dragon head surrounded Lyon's hand, and he lunged at Gray, "There's only one answer: Deliora! I will surpass our master by defeating what she could not!"

Gray bobbed and weaved, avoiding Lyon's attacks, "I'll admit, that's a pretty ambitious plan, but I can't help but think that you missed the point along the way!" Gray quickly created a sword of ice and shattered Lyon's dragon-fist, "Someone as blind as you could never be better than Ur, not in a hundred years! Wake up, Lyon!"

Gray slashed his sword across Lyon's chest, but instead of falling to his knees, Lyon shattered into a pile of ice; it was another Ice Fake!

"Fooled you, didn't I?" Lyon said from behind him, **"Ice Make: Snow Tiger!"**

A giant tiger of ice leaped at Gray who, despite his wounds, did an impressive back-flip over the beast and pointed his palms downwards.

 **"Ice Make: Prison!"** An ornate cage appeared around the tiger, trapping it.

Gray stood on top of the prison and glared at Lyon.

"You see this, Lyon? This is what you are," he said, "a beast in a cage, lashing out at a world he barely knows!"

"Utter nonsense," Lyon snarled, waving his hand, "I'll make quick work of that ice!"

Despite his claims, the tiger within the prison could not get free, no matter how much it struggled. Lyon stepped back in shock as Gray jumped down in front of him.

"Single-handed spellcasting is too unbalanced; your creations will let you down when you need them the most."

Gray placed his hands together, and a magic circle appeared under his feet. When he separated his hands, a large bazooka appeared in them, which he then aimed at Lyon.

 **"Ice Cannon!"**

The cannon fired the blast so powerful that it blew a gaping hole through the side of the temple. Lyon fell to the ground, his clothes shredded and his body covered in wounds. Gray lowered the cannon, slightly disappointed. He had only glanced Lyon with that shot, though whether Lyon had managed to dodge at the last second or if he'd subconsciously missed on purpose, Gray didn't know.

"Thanks for teaching me that move, Ur," Gray said softly, and then groaned in pain. He looked at the wound Lyon had inflicted with that icicle, and then used his magic to freeze it shut, "Ow, I knew I should have sealed this sooner."

He would have relaxed, but a noise rang out throughout the temple. It was a noise that haunted his nightmares, even though he hadn't heard it in ten years; it was both a high-pitched screech and a low growl that nearly paralyzed him with fear.

Deliora.

* * *

In the depths of the temple, Natsu tried to block out the noise as the ice around the frozen demon cracked and fell apart. As for Nero he only glared at the demon, even as it managed to free itself.

"Yes!" Zalty shouted exuberantly, "It's free!"

* * *

"Was that the demon?" Erza asked, as she, Lucy and Happy made their way into the temple, after they'd defeated Lyon's troops.

"Oh no," Lucy gasped, "they brought it back to life!?"

"Hey, wait," Happy pointed at a purple column of light, "if the demon is back, why is the Moon Drip still coming down?"

"Perhaps Deliora isn't completely revived," said Erza, tapping her chin in thought, "Which means that we can still stop it; come on!"

* * *

"Things are getting interesting," Commented Nero as he looked at the demon before glancing back at Natsu who was glaring at Zalty.

"I'm done wasting my time with you!" Natsu exclaimed. He charged toward Zalty, but a green sphere collided with his head, sending him flying. The sphere flew towards the small masked man, where it orbited around his wrist.

"Ready when you are," Zalty said, grinning.

"Why, you…," Natsu charged Zalty again, and the green sphere headed right at him. This time, Natsu shattered it in a single blow. Before he could celebrate, however, the pieces came back together, reforming the sphere!

"Should've seen this coming," muttered Nero as he figured out that this was Zalty's time magic, "Natsu, I got an idea. But you'll have be ready to attack when I say to."

"Got it!" Natsu replied.

"Hope I don't live to regret this," Commented Nero as he put himself in between the sphere and its target. Taking a deep breath in, then exhaling, the demon hunter held out Devil Bringer, his palm glowing brighter, "Take your best shot, you drag queen reject."

Zalty sent his orb at Nero who still held his hand, suddenly, the green orb began flickering before it shined brightly and sped right into Nero's open palm. When it connected it only remained in place for a second before Devil Bringer pulsed and absorbed the sphere!

"What?!" Demanded Zalty, completely shocked. How did this man was able to absorb his power!

"Gotta admit, didn't think that would work," Nero said openly, as he shook his hand, Devil Bringer pulsed powerfully at the portion of magic it absorbed. It wasn't the source of the earlier pulsing, that belonged to the demon that was still managing to free itself.

"No matter," scoffed Zalty, trying to hide his shock underneath a confident demeanor, "try that again."

"Actually, I'd like to try something else," countered Nero as he held out Devil Bringer.

Even as Zalty sent another orb at Nero, the demon hunter didn't budge in fact, he smirked, _"Stand still!"_

As he said that, Nero snapped his fingers and pulse of energy shot out around them. The world turned black and white, baring both the demon hunter and Zalty as they remained colored. Everything slowed down to a crawl before nearly stopping all together.

"Looks like I'm borrowing this truck for a while," Commented the demon hunter as he looked at Devil Bringer. This was a trick he learned a while back, turns out he could temporarily borrow abilities, but it took a lot of energy out of him.

Zalty snarled, and then used his power to undo what Nero's borrowed power did. The Demon Hunter, however, only froze it again. This continued for several minutes, with both fighters looking more tired with each attack.

"It would appear that we are at a stalemate," Zalty said, smirking.

"Maybe," Nero replied, "but I know something that you don't know."

"What's that?"

"I can use more than one hand," as the hybrid said that, he raised Blue Rose and fired right at Zalty, striking him in he head, completely stunning the Wizard, "sometime today, Natsu!"

"All right!" the Dragon Slayer charged forward. **"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"**

The blow sent Zalty flying right into a wall, with enough force to crack it. The man then fell to the ground, unconscious, for the moment anyway. While the rogue wizard wasn't a threat anymore, the demon was.

And Deliora made that clear with a powerful roar.

On top of the temple, Toby fell to the ground in pain, Erza standing over him with a raised sword. Even though he'd been defeated, Toby still looked triumphant.

"You're too late! The ceremony is already completed; Deliora is free!"

With a twitch of its shoulders, Deliora shook off the last of the ice that had entrapped in for ten years and took a step forward.

"No," Gray's voice caused Natsu and Nero turned around to see the mentioned wizard limping into the chamber that held Deliora.

Sorry Gray, we couldn't stop it. I guess our only choice is to take that thing down," Natsu stated.

"No," stated Nero as he holsters Blue Rose and unsheathed Red Queen, "I got this, Natsu, get Gray."

"No way!" Retorted Natsu, "there's no way to take it down by yourself!"

A powerful roar caused everyone except Nero to flinch as he continued to glare at the demon. Devil Bringer practically humming now with power. This was it, this is what caused it to pulse. Deliora was a demon, but a demon from his world.

"None… none of you are strong enough," Lyon's voice weakly called out behind them, and they saw the Cold Emperor dragging himself towards the demon, an insane smile on his face, "But I am… I will defeat Deliora."

"Do yourself a favor pal," stated Nero, not even bothering to turn around, "and just shut up while a professional goes to work."

"S-silence!" Lyon shouted, "I am going to surpass Ur… at long last."

"You can't fight," Natsu said incredulously; even he wasn't this stubborn, "You can't even get up off the floor!"

Lyon ignored them, continuing to drag himself across the ground; then, with titanic effort, he hauled himself to his feet,

"My dream… will be… fulfill—ugh!"

Gray didn't allow him to finish, knocking Lyon out with a single blow to the head.

"You beat me to him," Commented Nero, as his attention was still fixated on Deliora.

"I just wanted him to stop. He's done enough damage," Gray stared up at the demon, "Nero, you were right."

"About...," inquired Nero, glancing over his shoulder.

"About how killing myself, and letting my friends finish the fight, is cowardly. I'm not going to run away like that ever again," He grinned at Natsu and Nero, "kick its ass for me."

"No problem," smirked Nero, "Natsu, get Gray outta here."

"Fine," groaned Natsu as he slung Gray over his shoulder and dragged Lyon to the side of the chamber leaving Nero to glare at the demon.

Deliora took another step forward, the single act enough to shake the entire cavern, but despite this, Nero remained unfazed. Even as the demon looked down at him. Its eyes narrowing.

 **"SSSSSPPPAAAAARRRRDDDDDAAAAA,"** the demon rumbled powerfully. It recognized that smell, that power. It was like Sparda, that traitor. Did he have a son!

"You this friendly with people you just met, or am I a special case?" taunted Nero, now certain that this was a demon from his world.

Deliora raised a fist to crush Nero, which the demon hunter responded by planting the tip of Red Queen in the ground and revved the Exceed as a challenge. The demon's fist flew forward, and Spectral Bringer flew from Nero. The massive fist collided with with the open palm of the ethereal appendage and amazingly, it stopped!

Taking the chance, Nero leaped right towards the demons chest. If he had stayed, he would've noticed that Deliora's arm began to crumble into dust. The effect traveled up the limb, and towards the main body. Nero didn't even notice, however, he immediately took notice when he cleaved right through Deliora's, bisecting the demon with a single swing.

Landing behind the demon, Nero spun around to see the rest of Deliora's body crumble into dust. A large hole was formed where Nero smashed through the monstrous demon. But the hunter felt little to no resistance when he sliced through the beast, prompting him to look at the pile of dust in confusion.

"That was way too easy," Commented Nero as he rested Red Queen on his shoulder and approached the dust, "either I'm stronger than I look or the story of this thing is seriously over exaggerated."

"No…" Lyon muttered, "Deliora was already dead. For ten years, Ur's spell was gradually depleting the demon's life-force; what we just saw was its last breath."

"Wow," Natsu said, patting Gray on the back, "your teacher was pretty awesome!"

"Yeah," Gray said, a few tears falling down his face as he realized that his nightmare was finally over, "She was."

"Still, kinda a let down for me. First demon I come across in this world, only to find out its tanked out," muttered Nero as he knelt down to the pile of dust and picked up a handful with Devil Bringer. Suddenly, the dust began glowing, prompting both Natsu and Gray to stare in shock while Nero narrowed his eyes. Devil Bringer began absorbing the dust until it vanished into his palm. Once it was gone, Nero felt the power flow through his body. He took a breath in through his nose and let it out slowly.

"What was that?" Asked Natsu, looking at Nero with surprise and confusion.

"A trick I learned a while back that I can do with my powers," answered Nero, "basically, when I defeat a very powerful demon, I can absorb part of its essence. Gives my powers a boost and sometimes new tricks."

"Like what?" Asked Gray, narrowing his eyes slightly.

Instead of answering, Nero swung out Devil Bringer. A sudden pulse of energy shot out, followed by five more pulses. Around the demon hunter, glowing blue, translucent spinning blades appeared. Then one after the other, in the order they appeared suddenly spun through the air and impaled themselves in the wall. Upon doing so, Nero and the two wizards had a better view of the blades. They were curved, with two long blades, giving them the appearance of shurikens

Nero narrowed his eyes, it was his Summoned Swords. The only time he could use them was when he tapped into Devil Bringer and Yamato.

"That's awesome!" Commented Natsu, snapping Nero back to the situation at hand.

"Yeah...," Commented Nero, looking down at his hand, "it is."

* * *

The next few minutes were more of a blur than a measurement of time.

First Lucy, Happy and Erza arrived, the latter causing Natsu to freak out. In an act of compassion, Gray had helped Lyon out of the temple; Lyon himself looked almost peaceful, as if the destruction of Deliora caused his manic obsession to fade.

"Oh yeah!" Natsu cheered as they exited the temple, "We totally finished an S-Class quest all by ourselves!"

"You're right!" Lucy said excitedly, "Do you think Master Makarov will let us onto the second floor now?"

The celebratory mood was shattered by Erza's glare; Nero was the only one not really affected by the glare. He knew the job wasn't done yet. And was certain Erza knew that as well.

"Isn't there something you're all forgetting about?" Erza demanded, "You came to this island to help the villagers; the request was for you to return them to their original forms. This quest still isn't completed."

"Red's right," agreed Nero as he folded his arms, "jobs not over, till it's over."

 ** _To be continued..._**


	8. Chapter 8: Galuna Island Part 5

**_Okay, chapter 8 of Devil Tail. Deliora knows of Sparda, Nero gained a new ability, or has access to an ability he would otherwise need to use Devil Trigger to access. I do plan on having Nero practice with the Summoned Swords, but he won't be able to do anything like Vergil. Not in the near future anyway._**

 ** _Also, someone asked why no one questioned why Deliora said Sparda when he/she saw Nero and no one asked about it. Well, it's because they were still focusing on the whole situation of the moon temple and they assumed they completed the quest when they didn't and so kinda brushed over it. But I will have a moment where Gray asks about that._**

 ** _Also, my writing is not the best, nor is my typing skills, so if you see the name Ben, it's because I am typing on my phone most of the time and B and N are right next to each other. Then autocorrect takes over and...look my point is: I'm not the best writer and I doubt I'll ever be. So if wanna point our spelling mistakes or inaccuracies that's fine._**

 ** _Okay mini rant over, moving on._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing. And it's probably for the best I don't._**

* * *

 ** _Devil Tail_**

 ** _Chapter 8: Galuna Island Part 5_**

 ** _Galuna Island_**

"Isn't there something you're all forgetting about?" Erza demanded, "You came to this island to help the villagers; the request was for you to return them to their original forms. This quest still isn't finished."

"Red's right," agreed Nero as he folded his arms, "jobs not over, till it's over."

"But I don't understand." Lucy said, "The curse should've been lifted now that Deliora is dead."

"Wrong," Erza replied, "This curse you keep talking about never had anything to do with the demon. The villagers have been affected by the intense magical energy from the Moon Drip spell. In other words, Deliora's death isn't going to change their situation whatsoever."

"W-What? Oh no," Lucy's eyes had widened in realization as she placed a hand over her mouth in shock.

"Well, we better go and change them back." Natsu exclaimed happily.

"Aye sir!" Happy agreed as both exchanged high-fives.

"Yeah, but we don't know how," Gray said. Then, his face lit up as he got an idea. He turned to Lyon, who was leaning against a boulder behind him. He had taken off his body armor, leaving him in a blue jacket, black pants, and steel boots, "Lyon, do you know?"

"To be quite honest, I don't have a clue," Lyon answered impassively.

Natsu and Happy looked at him incredulously.

"You don't know?" asked Natsu.

"What?" Happy added in disbelief.

"Something's off here," Stated Nero as he cupped his chin with Devil Bringer, tapping a finger against it, "The villagers said that the curse started around the same time you and your posse came here."

"When we first arrived here three years ago," Lyon explained, "we were aware that there was a village somewhere on this island. But we had absolutely no reason to communicate with the villagers, so we left them alone. They never came to the temple to see what we were up to."

"In three years, you've never once met?" Erza said disbelievingly.

"I don't understand. The light from the Moon Drip is so bright you can see it practically from any point on the island. It's kinda weird they saw it every night and never went to investigate," Lucy noted, bringing up a valid point, if the trouble started, why didn't the villagers try to investigate it for themselves.

"If you ask me, there something here that doesn't smell right," interjected Nero, pacing slightly before turning to look at Lyon, "you, what do you know about the spell and it's affects on humans?"

"The spell didn't transform the villagers." Lyon continued, "The Moon Drip has no effect on the human body."

"What?" Gray inquired dumbfounded.

"Yeah right," Natsu accused, "you're just saying that so you and your lackeys will be off the hook."

"No, he's right," cut in Nero, putting the pieces together rather quickly, but some things were still a mystery to him. Though, when he saw the incredulous and disbelieving looks from Natsu, Gray, and Happy, he decided to explain, "guys been exposed to drip for years, about as long as the villagers. And as far as I can see, he's perfectly fine."

"Yes, the hunter is correct," confirmed Lyon, "I've been exposed to it longer than they have and my appearance hasn't changed one bit."

"Oh yeah! That's true," Lucy realized, seeing the logic behind his and Nero's words.

"The villagers aren't telling us something," concluded Nero, and he was sure of it. Every time he's been around them, there was something _off_ about them, like their energy was messed up.

"I agree with the Demon Slayer," concurred Lyon, "Those villagers are hiding something, but I'm sure you Guild wizards can handle it."

"I'm not a wizard or part of their guild," reminded Nero.

"We're not done with you," Natsu stated, not wanting to let Lyon off the hook so easily, "You destroyed the entire village and-."

The Dragon Slayer's ranting was stopped when Erza squished his cheeks together.

"That's quite enough, Natsu," Erza ordered.

The Queen of the Fairies retold Toby's explanation for why they agreed to help Lyon. It was revealed that Lyon's followers had lost their families, friends, and everything they owned to Deliora. He'd convinced them that if they helped him free it, he would kill it, and obtain revenge for all of them.

Nero and the rest of the team felt for them and could understand why they did it. Nevertheless, to Ben, that still didn't justify their actions in threatening the villagers only to get vengeance upon a demon that was already locked away in a huge chunk of ice.

"They were only doing what they believed to be right. So, there's no need to criticize them for it," Erza explained. She then let go of Natsu's face, "Now, let's go."

"But what are we going to do to lift the curse?" The pink haired wizard inquired.

"I have no idea," Erza replied.

"Oh great…," Lucy muttered.

Erza, Natsu, Nero, Lucy, and Happy walked away toward the storage area, leaving only Gray and Lyon behind. The former looked at his old friend with a sympathetic look.

Lyon simply glared at him, "What do you want?"

"I know you don't want to hear it, but you really should join a Guild. You'll make new friends, make new rivals, and maybe even find a new dream to live for," Gray answered.

Lyon's expression softened a bit, but he then turned away with an angry scowl. "Whatever," he grumbled, "just get out of here!"

Gray smiled slightly as he turned and walked away.

* * *

Shortly into their journey back to the village, Nero was currently walking beside Erza, his hands in his pockets while the Fairy Queen wanted to keep an eye on him. He did shot her, well, her sword anyway, but still, he came very close to actually shooting her. Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Lucy were walking just behind the pair.

As they continued towards the village, Gray remembered something. During the fight, Deliora spoke, which still shocks him, however, it's what the demon said that caught his attention.

Sparda.

"Hey, Nero?" Spoke up the Ice Wizard, speeding up slightly to walk beside the Demon Hunter.

"Mmm?" Hummed the demon hybrid as he glanced over to Gray out of the corner of his eye.

"During the fight, well execution Deliora," recalled Gray, "it looked right at you and called you Sparda."

Nero tensed ever so slightly, he should've figured this was coming around.

"Is that your last name?" Asked the Wizard.

"Yeah, Sparda's my last name," answered Nero, shifting awkwardly as they walked.

"How would it know your last?" Asked Lucy, having overheard the question and the Demon Hunter's subsequent answer.

"Because Deliora's a demon from my world," answered Nero.

"What!?" gaped Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Lucy.

"My uncle is a famous, or infamous depending on your point of view, demon hunter," began Nero, giving them a very cliff note explanation of his origin and how Deliora knew his name, "guys got more demon kills under his belt than any of us had hot meals."

"Wait, that doesn't explain how Deliora got here," spoke up Gray.

"Must've found a portal or cast a spell to get here," shrugged Nero, "and it's not like we can ask it anymore. Besides, the camp's up ahead."

True to his word, the storage area was up ahead. The had just made it back, the grounds that was serving as a temporary site for the villagers. However, something wasn't right. There wasn't a single soul present throughout the mass of tents. Only the sounds of an owl hooting or other forest animals could be heard.

"That's weird," Happy noted, "Where is everybody?"

"Are you sure they came here?" Natsu inquired skeptically.

"Yeah, this has been their camp," Lucy replied, though she too was confused about this dilemma, "I wonder where they could've gone."

"It's not like they've gone far," said Nero, looking around himself, though he would admit, this was strange, "rock's tiny."

"HELLO!" Happy called out, flying above the ground.

"Since we're here I'm gonna grab some bandages and some medicine," Gray stated as he went inside a tent. As he was doing that, Nero began to think more on what's happening and the situation they were in. The villagers somehow get cursed into being demons, but not by a demon, but by a specific spell. However, if they didn't know where the temple was, which is highly unlikely, then why wouldn't they go investigate, why call Wizards all of a sudden?

It made little sense, but something deeper was going on here. Devil Bringer began pulsing once more, causing Nero to look down at it. Why was it doing it again? Deliora was gone.

Suddenly, a male villager with green reptilian skin, black shorts, and a tail turned the corner of a tent.

"You made it back! There's something you need to see," He yelled with an enthusiastic tone, "Please just follow me to the village."

As he said that, Nero narrowed his eyes. Something was definitely wrong with this place.

* * *

Despite his own judgment, the demon hunter followed the mutated man, along with the wizards back to the village. However, when they arrived, something definitely changed, and by change, the entire village that had once been destroyed was now completely repaired. It looked as though it was never damaged, like how he and the others first arrived on the island. The villagers were walking around, clearly excited and perplexed how their home was suddenly fixed.

"What the hell?" muttered Nero, struck dumb.

"Are you kidding me?" an awestruck Lucy said.

Happy flew by Lucy, he too was amazed, "Yesterday it was a total mess but now it looks perfect."

"What's going on here?!" Natsu demanded, knocking his fists against a building wall, "Everything looks the same. It's like the village went back in time!"

"Now that it's fixed you probably shouldn't touch anything, okay Natsu?" Lucy suggested half-heartedly.

"Are you saying I destroy everything I touch!?" Natsu yelled.

"Well…kinda," Lucy sighed.

Natsu's angry expression shifted into one of thought, "Back in time," he muttered. He then remembered Zalty and his time powers. Nero, however, overheard Natsu and he too came to the same conclusion as the Dragon Slayer.

"You thinking _he_ did all this?" inquired Nero, giving Natsu a neutral look.

"Nah, couldn't be," Natsu whispered, placing a hand to his chin in contemplation. "Unless he had a change of heart,"

"Wouldn't put it past me," shrugged the silver-haired hunter, "but it's the only explanation we got."

"What are you two whispering about?" Lucy asked.

Nero and Natsu both turned to the blonde mage, the Slayer looking sheepish while Nero ket a blank look.

"Nunya," said Nero.

"What?" asked Lucy.

"None of yah business," elaborated the hunter, getting a scowl from the blonde which had him chuckling.

"Besides, who cares, right?" Natsu followed up.

"Not me," Happy said.

The trio then walked off, but in Happy's case, he flew behind them, leaving an utterly confused Lucy, "What are you two talking about?" she asked.

"Oh," Lucy gasped, a thought entering her head, "I forgot about our stuff."

The Celestial mage ran off to their tent, along the way, she encountered the village chief, Moka kneeling by his son's grave.

 _'Bobo's grave is back,'_ Lucy thought, _'That's good. I'm sure the chief must be relieved.'_

Lucy stood behind him, not saying a word. A moment later, Moka glanced back at her, "You and your wizard friends used magic to restore our village, didn't you?"

"W-well…I…uh…," Lucy stuttered. She had no idea how the village was restored and didn't know how to tell the chief that she and her friends were not responsible.

The village chief pulled up on his staff and stood up, turning to face Lucy, "Hmph, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. However, I must know…," his look became more intense, "…when are you wizards finally going to destroy the moon for us?! Well!?"

Lucy started shaking in fear under the chief's glare, but she was quickly saved when Erza approached them.

"Destroying the moon is a simple task, sir," Erza answered casually.

"What?" Lucy, Happy, and Gray remarked in shock.

"You're not serious, Erza," stated Nero bluntly.

"Don't know, but it did look like she said it with a straight face," Gray muttered.

"Aye," Happy added, "maybe she's gone crazy?"

"But before I do that I have to ask you all a few questions," Erza stated, "Would you mind calling in everybody for a meeting?"

* * *

A few moments later, having gathered all the villagers at the front of the main gate, Erza and the team stood before them.

"Let me get my facts straight, the first time everyone began to take these demonic forms is when the moon turned purple, am I correct?" Erza asked.

"Yes," answered Moka, "during the day we are fine but when the moon comes out we transform into what you see now."

"And the moon first turned purple three years ago, right?" Titania inquired, pacing side-to-side with her hands behind her back.

"Wow…has it really been that long?" a villager asked.

"Yeah," one replied, though he too sounded stunned.

"We've learned that the Moon Drip ceremony has been performed on this island every night for the last three years, and each night it produced a beam of light so brilliant that you couldn't have possibly missed it," Erza explained.

Suddenly, with a shriek, Erza stepped onto a pile of leaves and fell into a hole, which startled everyone.

"Watch your step, Erza," teased Nero as he looked down into the hole.

"Whoa…even Lucy's lame trap is back," Happy said.

"She screamed…like a girl?" Natsu whispered in awe.

"Yeah…and it was kinda cute," Gray added.

"But glad to know I wasn't the only one to fall for it," commented Nero, feeling better about himself, "be really embarrassing if it was just me."

"I AM SO GONNA BE DEAD MEAT WHEN SHE GETS OUT!" Lucy screamed hysterically.

Erza climbed out of the hole and stood back up, acting as if nothing ever happened. She crossed her arms over his chest armor. "Seriously, didn't you ever wonder where that light came from?" The scarlet-haired wizard asked the villagers.

The villagers, however, weren't really focused on her question, rather how she had gotten out the hole in a nonchalant matter. Some even had drops of sweat running down their heads.

"She got up like nothing ever happened?" one whispered.

"Yeah, she must be pretty tough." Another added.

"I don't understand," continued Erza, "why didn't anyone investigate?"

The villagers looked at each other and talked, however, it sounded as if they had no answer for her question. Confirming Nero's earlier suspicion.

 _'Guess I wasn't the only one. Doesn't explain why the didn't go look themselves. But why are they so confused?'_ thought the Demon Hunter as he noticed the confused expressions on the villager's face.

"Well…" Moka responded, "We would've looked into it but according to village lore we are forbidden to ever go near that temple."

"Who cares about village lore when your people are dying?" Lucy countered, looking at the chief incredulously, "You obviously knew there was a problem, which is why you contacted the magical guilds."

"Um…well," the chief trailed off.

Erza had her attention directed to Moka, and asked, "Why don't you tell us what's _really_ going on here?"

"Well…to be honest, we don't even know that ourselves." The village chief confessed. "Allow me to explain, we tried to investigate the light many times. We took up weapons we never had to use, I trimmed and stylized my side-burns, and then we ventured into the jungle to the temple many times. But we could never get near it. We could see it through the trees, and then suddenly we'd find ourselves back at the village gates."

"But…how's that possible?" Lucy asked confused, "It doesn't make any sense."

"A lot of things about this place don't make sense," interjected Nero, as he strolled off to the side slightly, "But I gotta agree, how is it that you never got close when we made it all the way to the temple without so much as a problem on our first try? Plus, the only obstacle we ran into was the giant rat. Something's definitely wrong here."

"Yeah," Natsu said.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"We didn't say anything to you earlier because we were worried you wouldn't believe us," A villager said.

"We're telling you the truth," Another villager explained, "We've tried to go back to the temple many times."

"But not even a single villager has ever managed to get inside," A third villager concluded.

Erza stood there, absorbing this information, "I get it…yes." She whispered.

Lucy lightly gasped while Natsu, Nero, Gray, and Happy looked at the redhead with puzzled expressions. Erza stepped away, heading to the village tower that stood along the wooden wall that surrounded the settlement.

Suddenly, her entire form was shrouded by yellowish-white light. When it faded, her previous wear had disappeared, and was replaced by armor that was primarily yellow with blue highlights, had a blue cross on the torso plate, arched shoulder plates, and a white fur trim on the bottom of her shoulder plates.

 _'Huh, kinda like Pandora,'_ mused Nero whilst also letting out an impressed whistle.

"Natsu, come with me. I'll need your help to destroy the moon." Erza said offhandedly.

"Really?!" Natsu exclaimed with a large, bright grin on his face.

"Oh this I gotta see," mused Nero once more as he folded his arms, fully expecting them to fail catastrophically.

Gray, Lucy, and Happy had similar reactions as they grew paler. Their jaws had dropped and their eyes grew wider than dinner plates whilst they stuttered incoherently. Even the villagers all stood motionless in shock.

"It's the only way to return the villagers to their human forms." Titania continued.

Their shock immediately evaporated and was replaced by happiness as they cheered in excitement.

"They're really going to do it!" a villager said, "And we get to watch it happen!"

"Right," another one agreed, "and we'll all get to be human again."

Natsu approached Erza, a big grin still present on his face, "Where do you think we should go? The temple? It's a lot higher up there."

"We'll do it from here," Erza replied impassively, "The villagers can't go near the temple and they need to witness this."

Gray, Lucy, Happy, and Nero all stood off to the side. Nero and Gray glanced at each other, both thinking the pair were insane, Lucy was still shocked, and as for Happy, well, he looked excited.

"I don't know what she's thinking," Gray muttered, "I mean, she can do some amazing things…but still."

"I'll take your word for it," agreed Nero, "as strong as some demons are, I doubt they'd be able to level a moon."

 _'Though, when the old man did fight Mundus, he was insanely powerful, and who's to say he couldn't destroy the moon?'_ thought the demon hunter, recalling the story Dante told him. At first, Nero thought the son of Sparda was screwing with him, but when he heard it from Trish, well, safe to say that Nero kept a careful watch on him.

"What do you think she's going to do to it?" Lucy asked, her voice slightly quivering in fear.

"This is exciting, huh?" Happy said.

"More like terrifying," Lucy deadpanned.

The village chief eyed Erza's new armor with a neutral expression while his people were cheering behind him.

"This is Giant Armor," the redhead wizard explained, "It increases my strength and allows me to throw farther. And this…," Erza held out her right hand, and then a red magic circle appeared. After a flash of red, in her hand was a seven-foot-tall spear with a blue shaft, yellow armored base, and a cross-shaped, yellow spear at the top, "…this is the Spear of Ha-Ja, it repels darkness."

The villagers 'oohed' and 'awed' in wonder at the armor and weapon, even Nero found himself impressed by Erza's abilities.

"Whoa!" Natsu exclaimed, his toothy grin growing bigger, "I see what you're up to now! You're going to use that spear to knock the moon out of the sky!"

Gray, Lucy and Happy looked at Natsu ridiculously.

"I call bullshit," muttered Nero to himself, "took humans days to reach the moon, how does she expect to do this?"

"That's right," Erza replied, "But I'm afraid I'll need more strength than this armor can give me." She turned to face Natsu, "So Natsu, I'm going to need your fire powers as a boost. Whenever I begin to throw the spear, I want you to hit the back of it with your flames. Now we'll have to plan our attack perfectly, but I think you should give me enough power to do the job."

"Sounds like a killer plan to me!" Natsu smiled.

"Then let's do it," Erza said.

She and Natsu headed toward the village tower that stood by the wooden walls. Meanwhile, their other teammates stared at them as if they both had gone insane.

"Yep, they've gone insane. There's no way they'll be able to do this," muttered Nero, having lost any and all respect for the two.

"Whatever it is, I think they went off the deep end this time." Lucy said.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

Moments later, Erza and Natsu were standing on top of the look-out tower, the former staring at the moon with determination. The villagers and the rest of the team watched the duo from below. The scarlet haired wizard reared back her spear and held it there. A yellow gem on her throwing arm was glowing brighter, gathering up strength and power.

"NOW!" yelled Erza.

Natsu's grin grew brighter than his hands. As Erza reared back the spear to its zenith, Natsu delivered a flaming punch into the back. As a result, the straw top of the tower blew apart, the spear shooting high into the sky like a rocket.

"They did it!" Happy cheered.

"What are they thinking?!" Lucy shrieked.

The Spear of Ha-Ja soared higher and higher into the sky, until the island below was nothing more than a dark spot in a vast blue ocean.

"Almost there!" Erza screamed.

"You're both crazy," commented Nero, having crossed his arms and shook his head, "Don't care how powerful you are, there's no way you'll be able-"

His sentence was cut off when a resounding bomb from above broke through the cheering, which returned Nero's gaze to the sky. Shockingly, cracks began to spread over the purple, cratered orb. The villagers began to cheer louder at the sight of the cracking moon.

"NO WAY!" Lucy and Gray screamed simultaneously.

Nero's expression went from annoyed and exasperated to total deer-in-headlights in a flash. His jaw fell as his eyes widened in shock, all the while he continued to look at the spectacle in total disbelief.

"Nothing makes sense anymore," groaned Nero as he covered his eyes with his hands, trying to process what was happening.

However, everyone's shock was replaced by confusion as the cracks spread out from the moon…and into the sky? It was true. The night sky around the violet glowing moon was starting to crack away. Without warning, like glass, the purple moon and the sky shattered into thousands of pieces, revealing a normal blue glowing moon in its wake.

"The moon?" Natsu trailed off.

"It's still there?!" Moka shouted.

Nero's disbelief vanished as quickly as did his skepticism did, as the pieces suddenly began coming together. The moon wasn't destroyed, rather the sky. More pieces of the darker colored sky were breaking away, but the pace of its destruction was slowing down. Finally, all the puzzle pieces came together.

"So that's it," commented Nero.

Running away from the group, causing all the villagers to look at him in confusion, they suddenly gasped in awe as Nero leaped into the air. Rising above the trees and up to at least seventy to eighty feet in the air. He needed to put a good distance between him and the villagers, as well as his friends cause he didn't want them to see this.

Devil Bringer began glowing brightly, as he focused its power. Whipping out Red Queen, Nero throttled the exceed to full, causing flammable liquid to burst out causing him to spin. As he was spinning, he began firing Summoned Swords out from his arm. Dozens upon dozens of ethereal swords spun out and embedded themselves into the dark dome at multiple points.

With the dome already weakened, Nero knew exactly how to finish this. Letting up on the throttle, he slowed his spin and quickly sheathed Red Queen. He then began to fall back to the ground, but Devil Bringer never lost its glow. In fact, it began glowing more intensely, changing from a light blue to a blood red.

Taking hold of Blue Rose, Nero fired right at the top of the dome and what followed was the bullet exploding on impact. The result was thousands of cracks spreading throughout the dome in seconds, the Summoned Swords having weakened it significantly. The dark dome resumed its destruction as it finally shattered away into nothingness. The sky, stars, and moon above were back to their normal colors instead of being ominously darker.

Nero landed gracefully back on the ground, Devil Bringer completely missing the glow so he doubted anyone would be the wiser. Straightening himself out, he twirled Blue Rose on his finger before holstering it and making his way back to the crowd.

"It wasn't the moon that shattered," Lucy gaped, staring at the crystalline particles that rained around the island. "It was the sky."

From atop the tower, Natsu leaned over the railing, confused by this development. "What the heck is going on here?"

"As a result of the Moon Drip spell," Erza explained with a smile, "a nauseous membrane was covering the island."

"What?" asked Natsu.

"The Moon Drip released evil energy in the form of a gas." The scarlet haired beauty answered. "That gas crystalized and formed an invisible shell in the sky that covered the island. That's why the moon looked purple here."

Suddenly, the villagers became startled as a brilliant light illuminated under their feet.

"Now that the shell is broken," Erza explained, "everything will go back to the way it was three years ago."

Then, the light vanished; however, nothing was changed. The villagers were still in their demonic forms.

"What happened? They're not transforming," Gray asked confused.

"Oh no," Happy muttered worriedly.

"That's because these are their true forms," Erza replied as she walked toward them, back in her normal armor after another flash of light, "The Moon Drip never had any effect on their appearance. However, it seems to have altered their memories."

"W-wait…what do you mean?" Lucy asked nervously.

"They think they're humans who have been transformed into demons, but it's the other way around." The redhead answered with a sly smile.

"So, wait, you're saying…they're really…" the blonde mage trailed off, the anxiety in her voice growing.

"Yep, you got it," Erza smiled.

Both Lucy and Happy screamed in shock while Natsu's and Gray's jaw's dropped. Nero himself, well, he didn't take it that well as his left hand went to go rest on Blue Rose as he realized what the situation was.

"The villagers have always been demons," Titania continued, which caused Lucy to scream even more as she fell to her knees, holding each side of her head.

"Hey is that true?!" Gray demanded, getting in the face of a villager.

"Well…maybe," the villager stuttered, "my memory's still a little hazy. We all looked pretty human when y'all met us, didn't we?"

"Yes," Erza enlightened, "because you all possess the ability to take on human forms. Your false memories led you all to believe that your temporary states were actually your true forms. In reality, you were actually victims of the Moon Drip's side-effects."

"Why weren't Lyon and his cronies affected by it?" demanded Nero, keeping his hand on Blue Rose.

Erza turned to him, "I assume it's because they're human. As far as I can tell demons were the only ones susceptible to the memory loss. I knew what was going on as soon as the villagers said that they couldn't go near the temple. The moon's light was sacred; thus, preachers of darkness couldn't go anywhere near it."

Nero couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly. He didn't remove his hand from Blue Rose.

"I got to admit Titania," commented a demon, "you're quite the detective. I knew I could trust you and your friends. Thanks wizards, I owe you one."

The group turned to the source and was stunned by who they saw. Lucy and Happy hugged each other tightly as they shrieked girlishly. Gray and Natsu their jaws drop again and Nero kept his hold on Blue Rose, even going so far as to pull the hammer back, from the sight of the purple-skinned demon that had appeared out of nowhere.

"It's the guy from the boat!" Gray exclaimed.

Moka felt his eyes tear up and his lips quiver from the sight of his son that he had presumed dead, "Bobo," he mumbled.

"Huh," a confused villager said, "but we thought you were dead!"

Bobo chuckled a little, "Getting stabbed in the chest hurt pretty bad, but you got to do more than that to kill a demon."

"But…on the boat…you just vanished into thin air," Gray mentioned, still flabbergasted from this new development.

All of a sudden, a pair of black, bat-like wings folded out from behind Bobo's shirt as he leaped into the air, hovering above them with his arms crossed.

"I sure hope you kids can forgive me for not telling you sooner," Bobo said.

"Whoa," Gray muttered, "he can fly?"

Nero only grumbled as he continued to analyze the situation. They were demons, and he was a demon hunter, however to say all demons were evil would be wrong. Sparda and Trish were both examples of that, but that still didn't mean these demons were anything like them.

"I was the only one who didn't have any memory loss," Bobo explained, "I had to leave because everyone went nuts! I knew I was a demon, but everyone else thought that they were cursed humans." He then started laughing.

Finally, Moka couldn't take it anymore, "B-Bobo," he said. Then, a pair of wings folded out from behind his shirt as he soared into the air and wrapped his son up in a tight hug, tears rolling down his blue-skinned face.

Bobo hugged his father back, and said excitedly, "I'm so glad you snapped out of it, Pawps!"

The villagers all looked at each other and smiled widely, their memories finally returning. Similar bat-like wings appeared from their backs as they flew into the sky around Bobo and Moka, cheering in celebration of the returned Bobo.

While the mages looked at them with happy smiles, Nero kept his impassive, until he felt an armored hand on his shoulder. Glancing back, he saw Erza giving him a reassuring look.

"They may be demons, but they aren't the demons you're familiar with," assured the scarlet-haired wizard.

"I'll hold you to that," commented Nero as he let go of Blue Rose, but kept his hand close to it.

* * *

With everything said and done, all the villagers returned to the village, even throwing a massive feast to rejoice that everyone had regained their former identities as demons. Nero and the Fairy Tail mages were guests of honor for helping them. Nero, Lucy, Erza, and Happy were at the large table along with the other villagers, eating what was surprisingly incredible food. Natsu was to the side devouring the fire on torches, which.

Nero poked his meal of a beef steak before glancing up to find Gray sitting close to a hut, a clique of villager girls swooning around him with hearts in their eyes. The ice mage, meanwhile, sat there with flushed cheeks and a sheepish grin on his face. They eventually pulled Gray to his feet and were tugging him to what appeared to be a dance area.

Nero chuckled as he leaned back, gazing at the sight, _'Guess they really aren't like the demons back home,'_ thought the hunter, however, his grin vanished as a new thought came in, _'If they remember who they are now, are they from this world or my world?'_

Lucy, Erza, and Happy eventually saw this too and couldn't help but smile as well, "Looks like someone's getting some attention from the ladies," Lucy teased.

"They'll scare him off eventually," Happy noted.

"Probably," commented Nero, snorting in amusement at what Happy said.

"Well…I have to admit I was wrong about humans," Moka said. The group turned to the village chief, who was sitting close to Nero along with Bobo, "All of these years we have chosen to hide from the outside world, afraid that they would judge us by our appearance."

"You know the curse," Bobo added, "that was actually a rumor we started so nobody would come to the island and bother us."

"Well congrats cause none of the sailors at the dock wanted to come near this place, let alone talk about it," commented the demon hunter.

"I know. It's a shame," Moka conceded, "But thanks to you, we have changed our minds. You have restored our faith in humans and we are not afraid. We are ready to go out and make friends with people from other lands."

"That's good," Erza smiled, "Friendship is a beautiful thing. It's an emotional bond that transcends one's physical appearance."

"All this talk about friendship is making me gag," muttered Nero quietly, though he couldn't help but agree with Erza, which is hypocritical of him considering how anti-social he was growing up. Though the friendships he did have, with Patty, her mother, Lady, Trish, and Dante, he'd treasure those with all they were.

The villagers continued their celebration; however, their party came to a screeching halt when three figures strolled into the village. The cheering and talking instantly stopped, some even gasped, when they saw who three people were, Sherry, Yuka, and Toby.

The girls huddled around a shirtless Gray were obviously scared, "What should we do?" one whispered.

"I'll take care of this," Gray said steely, standing up.

Nero, as well as the other wizards, halted what they were doing and turned to gaze hard at the three former thugs. Nero was the first to get up from his spot at the table, Erza following shortly behind. Both the Queen of the Fairies and the Prodigal Son of the Darkslayer glared at the approaching trio.

"You got a reason for crashing our party?" asked Nero sardonically as he took out Blue Rose and took aim at Toby.

"You, Demon Slayer wizard, and your friends from Fairy Tail are tough," Yuka commented, a smug grin on his face, "The Cold Emperor was so banged up he couldn't make it down here."

"That's why we've come to pay you a visit in his place," Sherry added coldly.

Toby only barked in agreement.

"Wait just a minute!" Lucy yelled, getting to her feet, "I thought we were cool. Didn't Lyon tell you what happened?!"

"Yes," Yuka answered, "but that doesn't matter to us."

"We wanted to settle things with you ourselves," Sherry said.

"By the way," interjected Toby, directing his gaze right at Nero, "I'm still pissed about you using my claw to paralyze me!"

Erza's brown eyes narrowed at the three, _'Surely they didn't come here to fight'_ she thought.

Natsu stepped forward, an eager grin plastered across his face, "Alright," he let up his right fist with fire, "Show me what you got!"

"Night's still young," agreed Nero as he spun Blue Rose sideways, "been looking forward to burning some calories after a big meal."

"Natsu, Nero, wait!" Bobo called, gaining their attention, "As much as we appreciate it, we can't keep letting you fight our battles. We'll take care of this."

"Yeah," a villager behind Chief Moka and Bob cried, "Let us handle these clowns."

"Normally I'd agree with you, gentlemen," Erza said, "But I believe it's best if I handle this one."

The scarlet-haired wizard sauntered toward Sherry, Yuka, and Toby, stopping a fair distance in front of them.

"We meet again, Titania of Fairy Tail," Sherry said, "You gave poor Angelica a pretty good beating earlier."

"She seems like a formidable opponent," Yuka sneered smugly.

Toby didn't say anything, he only grinned.

Erza said nothing; she only stared hard at the three minions of Lyon.

"Watch out for that creepy chick!" Lucy warned, "She can control inanimate objects."

"And don't even bother using your magic on, Mega-Brows," Natsu added offhandedly.

"Dog-boy isn't much of a threat," added Nero as he holstered Blue Rose, "just need to get one of his claws then the rest is easy."

"Hey!" Toby shouted indignantly.

"I see," Erza replied calmly, "In that case," the redhead broke off into a sprint straight toward the trio, "I'll just have to do this the old-fashioned way!"

Erza ran up and delivered a forceful kick into a surprised Sherry, sending her flying back. She quickly spun and connected her left elbow with Yuka's face, forcing him to the ground with a thud. She turned to face Toby, who was backing up with wide eyes and sweat forming around his brows. Before the dog-man could react, Erza sent a wicked haymaker into Toby's face that sent him crashing to the ground right by Sherry and Yuka.

With her opponents subdued, the villagers, Nero, and other Fairy Tail members looked on in awe and shock from the quick spectacle.

Nero let out a whistle, very impressed by what he had witnessed. He'd admit, she'd give Dante a run for his money, and him too. In a way, she was like Trish.

"Wow! She beat them without having to use magic," Lucy gaped.

"That's the mighty Erza for yah," Happy chimed.

"Would you cut that out already?" The annoyed blonde girl requested.

With pain-filled grunts, the trio slowly got back to their feet. Shockingly, Sherry smiled as she steadily got up, "You're truly an amazing warrior," She complimented.

As Yuka stood up, he wiped a trickle of blood off his mouth, "No kidding. We're no match for you," He added.

When Toby arose, his eyes were still spinning, "Roooooah…ain't that the truth."

Everyone eyed the trio conspicuously, shocked that they weren't fighting back.

"W-wait," Lucy stuttered, "you're not here to fight?"

Surprisingly, the three wizards looked to the ground with albeit shameful expressions.

"I doubt this is going to make up for all the bad things we did…but we wanted to apologize in person," Yuka confessed sincerely.

"Ooooh…so you came here to settle things in a good way," Happy realized.

"The Cold Emperor told us everything," Sherry said, "Thanks to you, we can finally let go of the pain that Deliora caused us so many years ago."

"You mean…" Gray paused, "you were victims of Deliora too?"

"When we were children a monster ravaged our village. We watched it murder all our friends and family," Yuka explained.

"The Cold Emperor had a plan to kill the demon once for all," Toby continued, "That's why we followed him."

"You see," Yuka said, "we wanted revenge. And we were so focused on getting it, we didn't realize we were hurting innocent people."

"We were so blinded by our hatred that we didn't act any better than the demon itself. For now on, we'll treat other people with respect…and love," Sherry said.

Nero kept an impassive expression, he didn't forgive easily, but he could tell they were being genuine. While he didn't feel as bad for them as the others, he knew that losing friends and family is not easy in the slightest to deal with, especially as a child. He would know. It went without saying that if the same happened to Nero, he'd likely be out for revenge, and to an extent, it did happen. The demon hunter paused for a second, recalling an old memory, one that he'd hope he didn't have to relive.

 _'Can't get caught up in that,'_ thought Nero, as he gripped Devil Bringer by the wrist, _'What's done is done. Can't change what happened. Just need to focus on the now.'_

"Alright then!" Natsu exclaimed happily. The pink haired mage appeared behind the trio, laying a hand on Sherry's and Toby's shoulders and bringing them in closer until they squished Yuka in the middle, "You guys should stick around and join in on the feast, eh?"

"But…we were enemies a second ago," Yuka mentioned, startled by this sudden change of attitude.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea because I'm trying to watch my figure and…"

Sherry's rant was cut short as Natsu squeezed them together closer, "Enough of the excuses, live a little will yah?!"

Seconds later, Natsu dragged them until they were seated at a table. They held their drinks in fear, the demons around them all staring at the trio.

"Alright! Now we're ready to party!" Natsu shouted.

"This place is nuts," muttered Nero as he returned to his seat and leaned back and kicked his feet up, "but just the right kind of crazy that I can like."

* * *

Outside the village not too far away, perched in a tree was a short man with long, shaggy green hair and wore a demon-like mask that concealed the upper half of his face. Floating beside him was a bluish-purple orb.

Zalty grinned wickedly. He had witnessed everything that had taken place in the village. Without looking at the orb, the man asked, "Were you able to see all that, sir?"

 _"Yes. Why did you restore the village?"_ a smooth male voice came from the orb.

The green-haired man turned and gave the orb a 'thumbs up', still smiling, "Cause I'm nice."

 _"Hmm…some might say too nice. You better leave before they find you. Those Fairy Tail wizards and the Demon Slayer wizard that was with them could pose a threat if they get in our way."_

Zalty grinned. He reached up for his mask and pulled it off, revealing a young man with spiky black hair. However, his form was then shrouded by bright white light. When the light faded, in the place of the man…was a woman. She had long raven hair and wore a white dress.

She stood up, still gazing at the village, "That is true," She replied.

* * *

The following morning, Nero stretched as he clambered out of sleeping bag, rubbing his eyes. A yawn followed before he stood up and got everything he needed. With Blue Rose holstered and Red Queen safely sheathed across his back, the demon hunter was about to leave his tent before he caught himself. Looking down at his right arm, he saw that Devil Bringer was slightly visible, however, it wasn't bad.

He knew that he'd likely need to get his coat fixed and a new glove, but from how things went last night, it was likely the others wouldn't notice. Even still, he stuck the demonic appendage into his pocket and exited the tent. From the position of the sun, it looked to be mid-morning. Nero usually didn't sleep this late, well not for a while, but all the fighting and partying that took place yesterday had worn out the demon hunter for hire.

 _'Think that's the first time I've been to a party like that,'_ thought Nero, as he began a short stroll, looking for his friends, _'Still not sure about the three musketeers, but I'd give them the benefit of the doubt.'_

Strolling through the village for a couple of minutes, he found Lucy, Gray, Natsu, and Happy by a hut. As Nero sauntered closer, he could see that Lucy was examining a faint scar on Gray's forehead; however, most of it was covered up by the ice mage's long hair. Natsu, meanwhile, had flaming torches in both hands and was consuming them like cotton candy. This still shocked and amused the demon hybrid to an extent whenever he saw the Dragon Slayer do that.

"Nice meeting you guys," greeted Nero as he approached the group.

"Hey Nero," Lucy, Gray, and Happy said in unison while Natsu just nodded, his mouth still full of fire.

"Any sign of the three party crashers?" asked Nero, calling them that cause he was still not certain and he only really used first names with people he respected.

"Like typical party guests they stuffed their faces and took off," Happy replied.

Lucy continued looking at the cut on Gray's forehead, "Hmm…I think it's gonna leave a scar."

Gray shrugged nonchalantly, "Whatever, it doesn't matter to me."

"On your face?!" Lucy gasped.

Gray smirked and chuckled a bit, "I don't mind having a few scars as long as I can see them. It's the ones you can't see that sting."

"Well, aren't you a smooth talker," The blonde mage smiled.

Natsu, who was still in the midst of eating the flames on the torches, growled in response, "You got a problem, Natsu?" asked Nero, arching an eyebrow as he looked at the Dragon Slayer.

"So you've got invisible scars?" Natsu mocked.

"SHUT UP NATSU!" Gray yelled, "Every time I say something cool you've got to ruin it!"

"How was that cool?" Natsu said.

"It never ends," sighed Nero as he shook his head.

Later, the afternoon had arrived and it was time for Nero and the Fairy Tail wizards to head back to Magnolia. The group was at the main gates, standing before Chief Moka, Bobo, and the villagers.

Nero, Lucy, Gray, Natsu, and Happy were standing by Erza's wagon, which was packed full of suitcases. How the scarlet-haired wizard got them on the island or carried them around was beyond the demon hunter. Meanwhile, the Ice-Make wizard and Dragon Slayer were pulling on one another's cheek for some reason.

"What?" Moka said speechless, "But Miss, you deserve the reward so take it. Please,"

"Thank you," Erza replied, "but your gratitude is payment enough."

"That's nice and all, but you really should take the money," The Chief argued.

"I'm afraid I can't since your request wasn't officially accepted by the guild," She said, "It fell into the hands of foolish wizards trying to prove themselves. Nero, who was a guest of our guild, got caught up with them."

Moka laughed, "Foolish as they may be if it weren't for them we wouldn't have been saved," He continued, "What if I give you the money not as a reward but as a 'Thank You' gift? It's the least I can do after everything you've done for our village."

The group heard this and immediately turned their attention to the conversation, even Natsu and Gray had momentarily ceased their quarreling to listen in.

Erza was silent for a moment, a smile on her face, "Well…when you put it that way…you make it hard to say no."

Lucy, Gray, and Natsu smiled happily, the later breathing out flames of excitement. Even the villagers looked pleased to hear that Erza would accept their reward. Ben, meanwhile, only stood by with arms crossed, smirking from his friends' enthusiasm.

"We're rich!" Lucy squealed happily.

However, the anticipation for a big payday instantly evaporated when Erza continued, "But I'm sorry. Accepting your reward would be contrary to our guild's principles. However, we would be happy to take the Gate Key that you offered along with it."

"GATE KEY?!" Natsu and Gray shouted simultaneously, both furious.

Lucy, however, was super elated, "Come to momma!"

"Well…at least let me take you back to Hargeon," Bobo offered.

"Thank you, sir," Titania then glanced behind her to the shoreline, "but I have a boat waiting for me."

* * *

Along the shoreline of Galuna Island, a ship bearing a pirate symbol on its sails was anchored off shore. Nero, the Fairy Tail wizards, and the villagers were all on the sandy beaches with a dumbfounded expression, excluding Erza who was only smirking.

"A pirate ship?!" Gray exclaimed in shock.

"You kidding me?!" Lucy yelled. "Did she hijack it?"

"This is awesome." Happy said.

Suddenly, a horn sounded from the ship. Onboard, the pirate captain and his crew were all cheering 'Ahoy me Beauty' toward a certain redhead.

"'Ahoy my beauty'?" asked Nero, glancing at Erza with a sly grin.

"That's right. They've grown quite fond of me," she replied.

Happy jumped in the air, "That's the great Erza for yah!"

"Kissass," muttered Nero under his breath, his smile falling.

"Ahoy," the captain shouted, "come aboard my ship, mates!"

"Mates?" Gray repeated.

"I don't wanna!" the celestial mage complained, "I'm not riding that creepy boat."

"Demon's breath is scarier than this," commented Nero, shrugging nonchalantly.

"If you wanna swim I'll join yah." Natsu offered; a bright grin on his face.

"Are you insane!?" Lucy accused.

The demon hunter and Guild wizards all got onboard. The ship deployed its black sails, setting out for sea. The villagers all applauded as the vessel sailed farther away. Along the way, Nero was leaning against the railing, a good distance away from Natsu who was bending over the side with motion sickness.

As the hunter leaned against the railing, he began recalling what happened on their trip, a proud grin forming on his face. With the help of his new magic-user friends, they'd successfully lifted a curse of amnesia for a village of peaceful demons. It was hard for him to actually accept that reality, but after hanging around them for a while, he realized they weren't like the demons he fought, they were their own people.

Also, he had new access to his Summoned Swords, something that he was actually a little excited about. However, the excitement vanished as he remembered why he had these swords. It didn't help that he knew he'd likely be leaving this universe and be heading back to his own. While Yamato was a definite option, being able to slice through anything, including the fabric of reality, he knew that he was nowhere skilled enough to open portals. The new friends that he had made, who were crazy but still enjoyable to be around, he would have to leave them soon.

Reality, most of the time though, has different plans.

* * *

ERA was a large, castle-like building that looked quite lavish on the inside and out. A young, raven-haired woman in a white dress was in the office of Siegrain, one of the Ten Wizard Saints. He was a young man with blue hair, a red tattoo under and above his right eye, and wore a white shirt and pants with black trim.

"It's a shame Deliora didn't work out." the woman said.

Siegrain smiled. "Yes, it is rather unfortunate," He then closed a green book and used his magic to telekinetically lift it up and place it back on the enormous shelf of books at the end of his office, "But we had no way of knowing the demon was already dead. It's a minor setback; I'll be more thorough next time."

The woman stepped forward, "Forgive me, Siegrain, sir. I had no idea that wench's magic was so powerful."

"You shouldn't speak of your mother that way," Siegrain chimed half-heartedly. "Don't cause Ur to shed another tear. She was a magnificent wizard who was greatly admired; in fact, if she were alive today I believe she would be counted amongst the Ten Wizard Saints."

The woman scoffed, "You give her far too much credit. My mother loved her magic and nothing else. It's no wonder why my father abandoned the wretch."

"They say the greater the loss a person suffers, the stronger they must become to triumph over it," Siegrain stated.

"I highly doubt my mother considered me a great loss." The daughter of Ur replied.

"Hmph, you never know. Perhaps she took on those students to fill the void that you left behind."

Before Siegrain could continue, the woman placed a finger over his mouth to silence him.

"Can we please change the subject?" she demanded rather than requested, "I think it's time to move on to the next stage."

Siegrain was about to respond until he noticed something, "Ultear, your face? What happened?"

All of a sudden, her left cheek began to redden as it swelled up into a big bump.

"THAT IDIOT NATSU PUNCHED ME!" Ultear screamed painfully.

Siegrain laughed in amusement.

"That certainly is a delayed reaction," He joked. With all jokes aside, the blue haired mage became serious once more, "So, how was he? Did you find him to be a worthy opponent?"

Still holding her swollen cheek, Ultear replied, "I never had to use half of my power against him, but I was still impressed. It seems he is getting stronger every day."

Siegrain looked away, his smile turning into a frown, "I'm not surprised. He is Igneel's son. To realize my dream, he must continue burning brightly."

"However," Ultear continued, "it was really the Demon-Slayer wizard that caught my eye. Not only does he possess incredible skill in sword combat, as well as an extremely powerful firearm, I suspect he's hiding even more power if he was able to stop time after absorbing a portion of my power, but he is also not affiliated with any guild. What's even stranger, I never witnessed any magical circles appear around him whenever he summoned an ethereal hand."

Siegrain looked back at the raven-haired woman. "Yes…from all accounts this Demon-Slayer wizard's power is peculiar. But's that's not the most interesting development to pop up. Apparently, it's come to my attention that Fairy Tail's Guild Master, Master Makarov, had sent a request to our archives a few days ago, requesting any information of a magical spell that can open gateways into alternate realities."

Ultear's eyes widened slightly as she connected the dots, "Are you implying that…"

"Yes. It would seem this so-called Demon-Slayer wizard," Siegrain said, "is really from another universe. Though this is quite unprecedented, it is not impossible."

"Just to sate curiosity, did they even find a way?" Ultear asked curiously.

"Indeed. They did uncover one method," Siegrain answered, a smirk with hidden malice growing on his lips.

* * *

It was around evening when Nero and Fairy Tail's strongest team had just arrived back in the Town of Magnolia, a clean, beautiful city that strongly resembled an old European-like town. They were walking down a stone street; Erza was pulling her wagon jam-packed with cases while the others walked ahead over her.

"We're home!" Natsu shouted exuberantly.

"Aye, sir!" Happy said, flying beside him.

"I'm bummed," Gray muttered, "All that hard work for some lousy Gate Key,"

"Yeah," Happy agreed, "and that S-Class quest was some big-time money."

"Well, I'm sorry but it wasn't an official job," Erza replied, "Just be glad you got something."

"I wouldn't call it a total failure," added Nero, "we did put an end to a powerful demon, got the villagers' memories back."

Erza looked at Nero and smiled, "I couldn't agree more."

"But the demon was running on fumes, so being blunt, we really didn't do much about that," added Nero to himself.

"Exactly," Lucy said with a bright grin. "So, quit your complaining."

Happy glanced back, "That's pretty easy for you to say. You got a reward," Then an idea popped up in the cat's head, "Can we sell it?!"

Lucy's jaw dropped in shock, "How could you say that?! You guys just don't get it. Zodiac keys are hard to come by. Sure, there are lots of silver keys out there, but there are only twelve golden Zodiac keys, and I'm lucky enough to have five."

Natsu looked back, smirking. "It's too bad they're all crazy."

"You had better watch it, punk!" Lucy shouted, "Me and my Celestial Spirits are gonna be stronger than you someday!"

"Natsu, you can be a lot of things, but sane isn't really one of them," interjected Nero, using his sarcastic tone, "Case in point, you did pick a fight with me just to see which one of us was stronger."

Natsu looked forward, grumbling. The memory of Nero spinning him at incredible speeds was still fresh on his mind. It was definitely something he didn't want to experience again.

"So, what Zodiac key did you wind up getting?" Gray inquired.

Lucy beamed brightly, "It's Sagittarius the Centaur."

"Half man-half horse?" guessed Nero.

"Yep," Lucy answered.

Suddenly, Erza stopped walking, her smile turning into a frown, "You're all so carefree. It's almost as if you forgot that you're supposed to face punishment when we get back to the Guild."

At that statement, Natsu, Gray, Lucy and Happy all looked back at the redheaded mage with horrified expressions.

"But why?" Natsu asked weakly.

"Everything worked out in the end!" Lucy added frantically, "Can't we just forget about the whole punishment thing?!"

"You're right. Everything did work out, but only because I came here to finish the job none of you were qualified to do," Erza replied sternly, "Stealing an S-Class request is a serious offense."

The four gasped in fear. Nero was the polar opposite as he stared at the Queen of the Fairies fearlessly.

"I get that they broke the rules, I've broken rules in the past, but cut them a little slack?" requested Nero, "Village was saved, the memories of the demons were restored, and Deliora was put down. Besides, they already said they were sorry."

Erza eyed Nero austerely, "It isn't my choice to make. Although, if you all promise to never do this again, I don't believe you need to be penalized by the guild. But your fates lie in Master Makarov's hands so I'm sure you will be facing punishment. As for you, Nero, you are not a member of Fairy Tail, thus you cannot be punished for your actions."

"Why doesn't that fill me with joy?" asked Nero condescendingly.

"Now I'm really scared." Happy was holding his face, which plastered a fearful mien. "Do you think he's gonna make us do that?"

Gray's face paled considerably. He suddenly crouched low to the ground, holding his head frantically. "JUST KILL ME NOW! I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN LIVE THROUGH THAT AGAIN!"

"You guys are freaking me out!" Lucy squealed.

Natsu, however, was smiling confidently. "Don't let 'em scare yah." He reassured, patting her shoulder. "I'll talk the old man out of punishing us. That guy loves me."

"I don't know if you should do the talking." The blonde mage deadpanned.

"Natsu, you can't talk your way out of this one. Good luck with that." Erza grinned, and then she began to laugh.

The Dragon Slayer was still smiling, but his confident demeanor exploded as sweat poured down his face. Suddenly, Erza grabbed him by the bag on his back and dragged him across the ground.

"DON'T TAKE ME!" He screamed.

As Titania dragged Natsu away, Lucy remained in her spot shaking in fear. She finally couldn't hold back anymore as she shrieked, "Will someone please tell me what THAT is?! I'm totally freaking out!"

"You're crazy," Commented Nero as he chuckled, shaking his head in amusement, "but I'll admit, you're growing on me."

* * *

In the Fairy Tail guild hall, everyone was relieved and excited that the team had come back unharmed and apparently victorious. Though Master Makarov was impressed that they pulled off an S-Class quest that still didn't damper his anger with them. The group was now standing before the short old man, who was standing atop the bar countertop.

He was wearing his usual orange and blue striped attire, his cane lying by his side. His arms were crossed over his chest and his eyes fixed hard on the group.

Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy were all shuddering from the hard stare. But Nero, wasn't, if anything, he had a laid back stance, not worried in the slightest. His expression calm and collected.

"Though I'm happy you all came back safe," Makarov admitted, "I'm still very disappointed with you four. Mark my words you will be facing that kind of punishment."

Natsu and Gray held onto each other, shaking in trepidation. Lucy looked like she was fixing to scream at any moment.

"However, that will have to wait," Makarov turned his gaze to the present Demon Hunter, "Nero, may I have a word with you…alone?"

The group looked at Nero curiously. What could the master want with him that would require them to be alone?

Nero's brow lifted in confusion, and intrigue, "Sure," he replied.

Makarov turned to Erza, "Erza, make sure that these four troublemakers don't go anywhere, please."

The scarlet haired wizard nodded.

Nero shoved his hands into his pockets before following the short man into a storage area. It was dimly lit and had a few pieces of materials lying around as well as a some crates. Once the door shut, Makarov made his way over to one crate and jumped onto it, in his hand was a manila folder. Nero sat down on a barrel and kicked his legs up onto the crate Makarov was standing on. It was quiet for a moment as the aging man was making sure nobody was listening in from the outside. Certain that nobody wasn't, he gazed hard at the silver-haired hunter, the latter returning the stare.

"Nero, remember when I said I sent a message to my colleagues asking if any type of magic that can send someone to another universe existed?" Makarov asked.

"If you're bringing it up, does that mean you found something?" Asked Nero sardonically, shifting slightly so he was leaning forward and brought his feet down.

"Well…I just received a response…and there _is_ one way. In fact, this is the only way as far as anyone is aware of," answered Makarov, though his tone was grim.

For a moment, Nero thought he finally had a way home, with the disc as good as garden rubble, and he wouldn't dare use Yamato. In the event he could open portals, there was the terrifying prospect that he could open a portal to the Demon World. Even though he's never seen it, he's heard what it looked like from Dante when he helped this artificial demon named Lucia and was trapped there for a while. What was in there, he'd never expose this world to the power of the demons that lived there.

With two options for a way home out the question, Nero actually he was going to be trapped here, not to say he didn't enjoy his time here. He actually liked what happened, and he was grateful for what Makarov, Natsu, and the others did for him, even though they literally met a few days ago. So he wouldn't lie that he didn't feel a little bad about leaving them all of a sudden. They had grown on him, and he knew that he didn't warm up to people he just met, being very antisocial growing up. But it went without saying that he didn't belong here, and what usually followed, being a descendant of Sparda, he didn't want to expose them to that.

Besides, Patty and her mother would be hounding Dante to find him, and the old man would find some way to make it his fault. But he, Trish, Lady, Patty, Nina, and Morrison were his family so to speak.

However, Nero took notice of Makarov's expression and his tone, his head bowed so that he was looking at the floor. Also, if he knew his luck, he wasn't going to like what he was going to hear.

"That's all well and good, but why is it that I get the notion there's a big 'But' coming along?" Inquired Nero as he leaned back.

Makarov looked back up at the demon hunter, "There is one magical spell that is powerful enough to rip a hole in the space-time barrier; however…it is…a diabolic ritual."

"That being?" Asked Nero, knowing where this was going.

The old man sighed deeply, "Allow me to explain. Roughly twenty years ago, an unknown man appeared in Fiore. We didn't know his name nor where he came from, but it was clear by his actions that he was determined to cause destruction across the kingdom and quite possibly the entire world for whatever reasons."

Makarov took a breath before continuing, "Several S-Class wizards from different guilds across the kingdom were sent to arrest him. However, when they fought the man, he killed many them without pity or mercy, with a power far beyond anything we've encountered. His power was incredible, but was incredibly dark, demonic. The closest thing we could find to that magic he used was Devil Slayer Magic, a Lost form of magic, but this, this made that look tame. It was clear that this man, whoever, he was, was a threat and the Wizards attempted to stop him permanently. The remaining wizards fought the man, injuring him great and costing him some of his power, however, he escaped, using one of the rarest known Lost Magics, Sanguis Porta, a forbidden spell. To power it, the man used the Wizards he killed as bodily sacrifices as well as the villagers."

Nero narrowed his eyes into deadly skits, "So you're saying that this guy used human sacrifices to escape to another world?"

Makarov nodded solemnly. "Yes, unfortunately. Everyone in the small village of Gardenia was killed by that spell and as were the wizards that survived up until that point. Roughly a thousand villagers were killed and seventy five S-Class Wizards as well. No trace of them was left behind..."

Nero growled before standing up and began to pace back and forth, fighting to keep his temper in check. Whoever this guy was, it was clear that he was more than willing to go to the same lengths as some demons. That didn't make him any better, in fact, in his opinion, it made him a Demon to Nero. Whoever he was, murdered nearly a thousand innocent lives to escape justice.

"You have any idea who this was?" Demanded Nero, having stopped pacing and took a breath before making the demand.

was holding. It was a photo. He held it out to Nero who took it.

"We only have this photo." He continued, "he didn't steal anything of value, but he a Wizard that managed to survive the attack heard him say 'This world shall fall to my rule'. After that he vanished, only he never returned like he swore to do so, which really confused most of us."

As Makarov continued with his explanation, Nero looked down at the photo. As soon as he saw the man in the photograph, his eyes bulged in shock while his breath caught in his throat. Though it was faded, there was no mistake... despite the human appearance, there was only one being that had _that_ pattern on his head.

"Mundus," Snarled Nero, knowing that pattern from Dante's descriptions and old legends told at Fortuna.

Makarov stopped and looked up to the platnim blond in shock, "You…know him?"

"Yeah, except he isn't a man, he's a demon," Stated Nero angrily, keeping his attention on the photo, "Mundus was a demon from my world, actually the ruler of the demon world. He's been trying to take over the human world for centuries, but couldn't break through due to a spell that was put into affect to keep him in the Demon World. My uncle fought Mundus and killed him about a decade ago, ending his threat to the human world."

Nero glanced at Makarov for a second, "What did he want here?"

Makarov shrugged, "I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that. Though from his last words, it looked like he tried to conquer this world."

"Aside from the usual 'Demon attempts to conquer all', let me get this straight," picked up Nero, going back to the reason why they were having this conversation, "the only ticket I have of getting home is with the Sanguis Porta spell? And that is my best and likely only bet of getting home?"

The old man nodded somberly, "Yes. As far as we know, it is."

Silence followed.

Dead silence.

Guess he had Murphy's law to thank, as well as his own bad luck.

Nero's biggest concern had come about. It was official he was stuck in this universe with his only ticket being a sword that he hasn't mastered that can open portals, most likely to the Demon World. Killing a thousand people to open a portal, completely out of the question. And if he heard Makarov correctly, that spell also had a high chance of sending him to the Demon World. If he did try to use the spell, he couldn't, he wasn't a wizard, so that spell was practically worthless.

Nero tossed the picture back onto the crate next to Makarov, a passive expression on his face as he closed his eyes and folded his arms. He knew there were other ways to travel between worlds, one he had on his person, but he wouldn't use it because he wasn't skilled enough and the risk was way too high.

While he knew his world was is in relative peace and under good care of Dante, Trish, and the others, that didn't exactly make him feel any better. Why was even here in the first place? While he only believed in a person's choice is certain not so much fate, but still: Why was he here? What was the purpose of bringing him, a demon hunter with a weird arm and magic sword, here then leaving him stranded in this magic world when he wasn't even a wizard? He didn't belong here.

Master Makarov looked at him with sympathy. He could tell Nero had a storm of thoughts racing through his head all at once. There was a lot of information for him to suddenly process.

"Well, thanks for what you did, Makarov, for all the good it did," thanked Nero, if a little harshly, before he turned on his heel and began to leave.

"Where are you going?" Asked the old man.

"To think about everything that happened and what you told me," answered Nero sharply as he continued walking before turning back, "alone."

The old mage nodded, "I understand," he said softly.

Nodding, Nero walked towards the door and opened it roughly, before closing it, harder than he probably should have. Once he had it closed, Nero just needed some time to think, so he walked away, hands in his pockets before breaking into a rapid sprint.

Back the guild hall, everyone was talking with one another, having a great time. Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy were all sitting by the bar, waiting for Makarov to return. Erza stood close by to destroy any attempts at escape.

Jet was getting up front his table, intending on getting another drink; when a sudden blue sped right past, him, causing him to spin in place. The blur went out the front doors and zoomed down the streets of Magnolia. Any citizens that were nearby only caught a short glimpse of the blur but could feel the wind in its wake.

Back at the guild hall, Jet had finally stopped spinning, but was left very dizzy. That much was certain if the spinning circles in his eyes were any indicator. As for anyone else, they were very confused as to what just happened.

"Whoa," Gray breathed, "what was that?"

"You think it was Nero?" Lucy asked.

"If it was, why would he be in such a rush to leave?" Happy wondered.

As Jet returned to his feet, Levy smirked at him, "Told yah he could move faster than you."

The speed-mage moaned as he slumped in disappointment.

As the Guild members pondered on why Nero left in a blur, nobody noticed Master Makarov walking out of a storage room. His eyes were closed and his head held down. He jumped up to sit on the bar countertop, crossing his legs as he did so.

Mirajane came over and asked, "Master, did you tell him?"

Makarov nodded, "I did."

"How'd he take it?" she inquired.

The guild master was silent for a moment, "Better than I thought he would, but…it's still a lot for anyone to process. It can't be easy on him."

"What can't be easy on him?"

Makarov and Mirajane glanced to the side to see several wizards looking at the duo, who apparently had overheard their conversation.

"What'd you tell Nero, gramps?" Natsu asked calmly.

Makarov sighed. He could tell them nothing; however, he knew from the way that they were all staring at him that they were determined for answers.

"You kids might want to take a seat…this is going to be a long story," Makarov sighed.

* * *

Night was steadily approaching over Magnolia. The sun was over the horizon as the sky became an assortment of red, orange, and yellow. Outside of Magnolia, along a mountain range, a figure was scaling the side of the mountain, ignoring the road that was formed.

Nero used Hell Bound to make his way up the side. The claws of Spectral Bringer digging into the side of the mountain with ease.

After yanking himself up one final time, Nero landed on the top of the mountain. Turning around to look out over the cliff he scaled up.

Magnolia and the large lake could be seen in the distance. The sun and the warm colored sky gave the scene a beautiful, serene feel; however, a certain hunter was feeling far from serene at the moment.

Nero stood at the edge of the cliff, his coat flapping in the breeze as he folded his arms. Someone like him, who had the power of a demon, needed little to worry about.

Nero scoffed as he bowed his head, not discouraged, but of dislike for his luck.

A few minutes of silence passed by as he reviewed everything Makarov had told him earlier.

The platinum blond should've figured he'd be in a position like this, a rock and a hard place. He had a means home, in the form of a sword Sparda used to seal the Demon World from the Human world, but required tremendous skill to use. Skill that he doesn't have, and on the event he does manage to open a portal, he could end up doing so right to the Demon World. He could stay and try to master Yamato, like his father did, but that would take years to do. His only other options were these: use magic and commit mass murder in order to get home. Both of which he'd die before doing.

"Why do even act surprised?" said Nero to himself, "anyone who's come into contact with Dante has something god awful happen to them."

Nero sighed as he turned away from the cliff and walked towards a tree that was on the mountain top. He stopped beside the tree and reached to rest his right hand against it.

"Looks like I'm stuck here," said the hunter.

The hunter's thoughts then shifted to the demon from the photograph: Mundus. He had come to this world nearly twenty years ago with the intent to conquer it, from what Makarov had said, and left when things got tough. Why he came here, was beyond Nero, but it didn't matter anymore because the demon was dead. However this still didn't fix his situation.

Nero gritted his teeth as he smashed Devil Bringer into

the side of the tree, in an act of anger. The tree snapped in two before collapsing.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Nero attempted to calm himself. Getting angry wasn't going to help him now. Sighing, he sat on the truck of the fallen tree, and gazed into the distance. Watching the orange sun set along the horizon as the warm colors in the sky reflected off the big lake. Nero stared at the scenery longer, feeling all the traces of anger within him shift into calmness.

"Can't do anything to get home, and mastering Yamato seems like my best bet," said Nero to himself, "but could take years to do..."

He then shifted his gaze to Magnolia where he could see the small buildings, the Cathedral, and the Fairy Tail Guild Hall in the distance. Nero focused primarily on the guild. He was recalling what Master Makarov had offered him on the first night he came to the guild hall.

'I am offering you a chance,' Makarov said, 'I have sent out messages to some colleagues of mine to look into any type of magic that can send you home. If, however, there isn't any, I will offer you a place here for as long as you wish to stay.'

Nero still felt a little honored from the old man's offer to become a part of his guild and his 'family'. He looked back on the events that had transpired on Galuna Island. He remembered fighting Angelica, Lyon, his minions, Zalty, and then nearly getting killed by Deliora. It was only because of Natsu and Gray he was still alive.

Nero smirked. He had to admit that he, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy made a good team. He never got to fight alongside Erza but from what Nero had heard, she was a very skilled warrior. Plus, he did witness the scarlet-haired mage change into a suit of armor and destroy that giant 'lens'over Galuna. That was pretty cool to witness and his gut told him that was only a taste of her power.

He continued to stare at the pagoda-shaped building that was the Fairy Tail guild hall. Inside of which resided wizards with a variety of powers and people willing to bring him into their 'family'. Though nearly everyone in there was crazy in their own way, they still used their magic powers for good and protected others. In addition, they had grown to become good friends to him, even in the short amount of time he had known them and his own antisocial behavior.

"Gramps did offer me a place at the Guild, and it's not like I have anywhere else to go," said Nero to himself, "If I'm gonna be here for a while, might as well make the most out of the situation. And be around good people while I'm at it."

Suddenly an old memory surfaced, one he was fond of, so much so that he reached up to his shirt, under his coat, and took out a necklace. It was the same necklace from the photograph, the one depicting four angel wings, with two surrounding a red crystal.

It was Kyrie's necklace.

* * *

 _*Flashback*_

 _"Thank you, Ms. Kyrie!"_

 _Nero smiled as Kyrie handed a bouquet of flowers to the little girl. Kyrie had requested that Nero go with her as she went to go pick up flowers for the city hospital. She planned to give a bouquet to each patient, hoping that the flowers would keep their spirits up, and encourage them to not give up on the hope of recovery. They were just about to head for the hospital, when a little girl, one that Kyrie had watched over before, had approached them asking for a bouquet. Apparently, the hospital announced the arrival of the flowers, and the girl wanted to be the one to give her ailing mother the flowers personally._

 _With a story like that, Nero had to admit that even **he** would have given her a bouquet._

 _Kyrie smiled as the girl waved good-bye. She then turned towards Nero, but was surprised by his amused expression, "What is it?" she asked shyly as she met his gaze._

 _Nero chuckled, "Nothin'. Just watching you be your usual, charitable self, is all," He then gave her a genuine smile, "You did good."_

 _Kyrie returned the smile, "I'd like to think so..."_

 _Grinning, Nero playfully shoved her, "Well, c'mon. Don't we have to go deliver these flowers?"_

 _The young girl giggled, before pushing the cart to the hospital, with Nero by her side._

 _End Flashback*_

* * *

"Besides," said the hunter to himself as e looked down at the necklace, "she'd want me to help everyone I can."

With his mind made up, a smile adorned the platinum blond's face. Standing up from the Fallen tree, Nero made his way to the edge of the cliff. Taking a few steps back, he dashed full speed right towards it before leaping off. Any person who saw this would think Nero was committing suicide; however, it was so far from the truth. The demon hunter unsheathed Red Queen and stabbed the sword into the side of the cliff, slowing him down. Reaching a suitable height, he pushed off the cliff and sailed right towards Magnolia, one specific building as his destination.

* * *

Master Makarov spent at least half an hour explaining what Sanguis Porta was to his "children". They were all mortified that such a spell even existed, but they were mostly empathetic for Nero. He was far away from his home and the only way back was to do something that he could never do.

"Oh man…this is gotta be tough for him," Gray muttered, referring to Nero.

"And horrible," Lucy added, feeling sympathy for the demon hunter.

"You think he'll come back?" Natsu asked, genuinely worried.

Everyone looked at him with unsure expressions. Nobody had an answer to that. Trying to picture yourself stranded in another universe and murdering people in the quadruple digits being the only alternative back was not easy to fathom.

Makarov shrugged, still with his eyes shut, "No one can say, but…I fear Nero may believe there is no point in coming back."

Erza sat at the bar, staring at the countertop with a neutral expression, but her mind was somewhere else. She was still processing what Makarov had told them about Nero's situation. She felt for him and she wondered if he would come back. She knew little about this Demon Slayer mage but, even in the short time they interacted, she knew he was strong and possessed a good heart.

She then recalled the two incidents when she had her sword at Nero's throat. Unlike everyone else, he did not cower in fear or beg for forgiveness…Nero actually responded by drawing his own weapon and firing at her. And in that time, he was calm, unafraid, and deadly serious. Erza knew that everyone in the guild feared her and acted at their best around her, but Nero…he didn't seem fazed by her at all.

All of a sudden, Erza's musings were interrupted when the doors to the hall were swung open. And Nero strolled calmly in, a cocky smirk on his face.

"Nero!" Greeted Happy flying over to the approaching hunter, "You're back!"

"Course I'm back," he responded, casually as he made his way to the bar and in front of the wizards. As he was approaching, the wizards noticed the way Nero carried himself: standing tall with a smirk on his face, like he was ready to take on the world, which bewildered everyone. Earlier Nero had rushed out seemingly upset, but now he seemed…happy?

"Where else would I go?" He asked as he stopped in front of the wizards and sat down at the bar, "besides, would be a waste of time to go to all that effort of putting together a room and then not use it."

"Master Makarov told us about that spell," Gray mentioned in a grave tone.

"Figured he would," said the hunter, his smirk faltering for a split second, "but no use crying over it."

This made a few mages blink in confusion. Most people would be devastated if they were put in Nero's current predicament, but instead he was carefree and cherry despite his ordeal.

"W-wait…so…you're not sad about not being able to go home?" Lucy asked.

"More like upset," clarifies Nero, "sucks that I won't be able to see my friends or family for a while, or if ever," Nero paused, looking away for a moment, "but if I know them, they'd be on my case, telling me to stop sulking, whining about a situation I have no control over, and get out there and live my life."

The wizards gathered were shocked from his inner strength. Though he probably would never see his family and friends again, he decided to look at what he did have that was good and focused on that.

"And speaking of which," continued Nero as he glanced over at Makarov out of the corner of his eye, "Makarov, you remember that offer you gave me a while back?"

The old man looked at him and blinked, "Yes, why?"

"Was it a limited time offer, or can I still take you up on that?" Asked Nero casually.

Makarov's eyes widened, his jaw almost falling to the floor, "W-what? You mean…you…"

"Your hearing failing or something?" Teased Nero, "I want to join Fairy Tail and become a member."

That was the real shocker. Nearly everyone's eyes bulged wider than saucers and their mouths almost fell off their faces. However, the shock quickly faded and was replaced by joy.

"No way, dude, are you serious?" Gray almost shouted.

"If you know me then you should know that I mean what I say," answered Nero, before turning to the master, "So, is the offer still up?"

Everyone looked at the orange and blue attired old man. The guild master gave Nero a hard stare as if he were scanning his well-being. Finally, after a short tense moment, he held out his small hand, which Nero took and shook.

Makarov laughed, "Of course it does. You're welcome to stay here as long as you like. Welcome to Fairy Tail, Nero."

All the wizards present cheered in excitement for Nero, for he was now the newest member of the Fairy Tail guild and family.

"ALRIGHT!" Natsu yelled as he patted Nero on the back, "Welcome to our guild, buddy!"

"Aye," Happy agreed, flying over the demon hunter.

Gray came to Nero's other side and added, "Yeah, you're really gonna like it here, man."

"Something tells me you're probably right," chuckles Nero.

Everyone cheered for their newest soon to-be member. Not only would they have another friend and ally, but a very powerful one at that. Erza watched the group of wizards crowding around the teen hero. She smiled, feeling happy for the demon hunter. Though he could never go home, he was still able to move forward with his head held high.

A sudden realization came to Erza, causing her to smirk, _'At least now if he defies a guild rule, I can punish him for it.'_

 ** _To Be Continued..._**


	9. Chapter 9 Personality Problems

_**Okay, chapter 9 of Devil Tail. Now, I know some of you might be thinking I'm just following Ultimate Fairy word for word. Well, I would like to put those thoughts to rest and say, no, I am not doing it word for word. I'm taking inspiration from the story.**_

 ** _To that end, I have similar reasons as to following a similar path by skipping the next episode in Fairy Tail because Nero would have very little purpose in "Natsu and the Dragon Egg" as it is mostly flashbacks for the Dragon Slayer. Also, I just find the episode too much more funny and deserving for being the next chapter. Similiar to Ultimate10 I will be using the Nero/Erza when the characters switch bodies._**

 ** _Anyway, onto the story._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing. My therapist has told me this multiple times._**

 ** _Devil Tail_**

 ** _Chapter 9: Personality Problems_**

"Believe it, bun," retorted Nero, leaning back into the booth and kicked his feet up onto the table.

Within the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Nero Sparda, the newest addition to the guild, was seated in a booth, a small mug of beer in his hand. He wasn't unfamiliar with the alcoholic drink, having spent many a night, drinking due to circumstances. However, ghe demon hunter did find the beer tasted slightly different. Though considering he was in a different world, it wasn't really surprising.

It had been a solid week since he first arrived in this universe. Yesterday, he and Fairy Tail's strongest team had just arrived back from Galuna Island, and he was told the tragic truth to why he couldn't return home. While it did annoy Nero to an extent, that he couldn't get home, at least an immediate way home since he did have Yamato in his possession, but using it was out of the question. Truth he told, he did miss Dante and the others, but he wouldn't let it get him down.

In his universe, jobs had begun to slow down a little, Demons hadn't appeared as much as they used, taking a big dip after Fortuna, and Nero didn't really mind that his career as Demon Hunter was laxing. It was good that peace was coming around, but for him, what was the point of having a sword, gun, and demonic arm with unique powers, if he couldn't help people. Fortunately, in this world of magic and questionable physics, problems seemed to be written into the fabric of reality. Something that was just fine for the Demon Hunter that was Nero.

To make his integration into Fairy Tail official, Nero, this morning, he had his mark "stamped" on him. The demon hunter had it stamped onto his left hand, the colors he chose were a red outlines by a cyan blue, similar to the colors of Devil Bringer. Wanting to add a little more to it, Nero decided to get the symbol stitched into both sleeves of his jacket with the same colors. Courtesy of Mira.

At the moment, Nero was having his beer, necking the drink with Wakaba, Elfman, Mirajane, Macao and Cana. He was telling them the story of how he defeated Bael and how he stopped a small herd of Dagon's.

"You defeated a giant demon toad by jumping down its throat then burst out the back before smashing it around. And then you stopped more of them with one punch?" Cana said in a stunned manner.

"Well I punched one of them and it was basically a domino effect," clarified Nero as he placed his beer mug down on the table. He rested his right hand on the table. One other thing that was different was that he managed to replaced his glove that used to cover Devil Bringer. A gift from Mira since he told them he lost his other glove and asked if he could get a replacement. His reasoning was because he had some really bad scars and wasn't very comfortable with displaying them.

"Wow!" Elfman exclaimed, and then he smacked his hand into Nero's shoulder, almost knocking the hunter down, but remained seated, "Finally, we have another man in this Guild besides me!"

"Figured, I'd add to the populous," Commented Nero as he rolled his shoulder, "but would prefer if I were a man that didn't have a dislocated shoulder."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Macao accused indignantly toward the white spiky-haired giant.

"You know what it means you little wuss!" Elfman yelled.

Suddenly, before anything else could be said, the front doors to the Guild opened. Stepping inside was Erza with Gray, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy behind her. The ice mage and Dragon Slayer were wearing their usual attire whilst Lucy had changed into a blue shirt with brown shorts.

"Is Master Makarov here?" Erza asked in her commanding voice, "He never could get around to punishing these four yesterday."

"You just don't give up, do you Erza?" Jokes Nero as he turned in the booth to face them, folding his arms in the process.

"Hey! Why isn't Nero getting punished?! He's a member of our Guild now!" Gray demanded.

Erza turned and gave him a glare, which made the ice mage flinch back in fear, "Because Nero wasn't a member of Fairy Tail at the time you fools went on that quest, thus he can't be punished for his actions."

"Tough break, guys," Teased Nero as he leaned back, "I'll be sure to keep you in mind when you get what's coming."

The three mages and cat looked to the floor with downcast looks, "Shut up, Nero," Lucy mumbled.

"And here I thought we were friends," said the hunter as he placed a hand over his heart in mock offense.

"I'll ask again, where is Makarov?" Erza demanded.

"He went out of town for some kind of last minute council meeting or something like that," Macao answered.

"Left about a few hours ago," added Nero.

Immediately, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy let out collective sighs of relief.

"Well, that was a close one!" Natsu beamed brightly.

"Yes," Gray fist-pumped, "we won't have to deal with that until Gramps gets back."

"Oh thank goodness!" Happy added, crying in joy, "I was so afraid of staring in the face of death!"

"I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE!" Lucy shrieked, pulling her blonde hair in frustration, "YOU GUYS ARE REALLY FREAKING ME OUT! HOW IS HE GOING TO PUNISH US? I'M SO YOUNG AND I HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!"

"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" Erza commanded.

The group instantly ceased their talking and shivered in fear. Natsu and Gray even held onto each other, both afraid from the redhead that haunted their nightmares. Nero was even fazed, having dealt with worse.

"Do you know when the master is planning to return?" the scarlet haired mage inquired.

"No," Mira replied, "but I would imagine he'll be coming back any time now. The meeting place isn't too far away."

Erza nodded, placed her hands on her hips in an authoritative matter, and turned to face the four behind her, "Okay listen up, you're not getting off the hook!" she said in a raised voice, "You broke Guild rules by taking on that S-Class quest, prepare to be punished."

Natsu, Gray, and Happy immediately hugged each other in support, whimpering in fear.

"How do I prepare myself when I don't even know what's going to happen?!" Lucy screamed.

"Man, you don't mess around when cracking the whip," said Nero, mainlynto himself. In a way, she was like Credo when he was Captain of the Holy Knights.

"Well, it was nice knowin' yah," Wakaba joked. His smile then turned into a frown as he looked away, "It's a crying shame. Those two boys are one thing, but I can't believe Lucy's getting punished too. Oh you poor girl,"

Lucy paled, a sweat drop running down her face, "Oh you poor girl?"

Natsu and Gray, meanwhile, overheard Wakaba and started walking toward him with angry looks.

"Hey! What's the deal, man?!" Natsu demanded furiously, "How come you don't feel sorry for us?!"

"Why are you involving me with this loser?!" Gray added.

Before anyone could stop it, a fight broke out between Natsu, Gray, and Wakaba. The former two traded insults back to one another as they fought Wakaba and each other. Nero just watched them fight, an amused grin on his face.

'People around here sure like to fight,' Nero mused; however, that thought made him reflect on when Natsu and he fought a few days ago, 'he called me out. It's not like I went looking for a fight.'

"The big part of being a man is owning up to your actions," Elfman stated, "You hear that you two?! It's high time for you to man up!"

"It's not fair!" Happy cried as he flew around, trying to get the others' attention, ""I'm the cutest one here! Why doesn't anyone feel sorry for me?"

"Will someone please tell me what's going to happen to us?!" Lucy said in an obvious panic.

At this point, Nero startled chuckling, "It's like watching a sitcom, but better," mused the demon hunter. Though these people were crazy, they did provide quality entertainment that you had to pay for back in his universe.

Later, Natsu, and Gray were standing in front of the Request Board, Nero leaned against it as the Dragon Slayer looked over it. It was a board on the wall with various wizard jobs posted all over it. However, the trio was mainly focused on a particular job request in the center. The request was printed on black paper with white ink, had two eyeballs at the top, and a bunch of indecipherable scribbles all over it. The only thing readable was the big "Read This" at the top and a "500,000J" reward at the bottom.

Needless to say, it quickly caught their attention. That was a lot of money, and Nero knew that if he was stuck here, he had to start making some money as a wage and profit. The hunter had no intention of living in the Guild Hall for the remainder of his time here, the storage wasn't the most homey place he could've asked for.

Nevertheless, this request was really drawing blanks with the three. It was kind of hard to accept the job when you couldn't even read the request.

"That's a weird looking job request," Natsu commented.

"Yeah, it is," Gray agreed.

"Pretty sure I've seen a demons handwriting and it was more readable than this," Commented Nero cynically, agreeing with the two.

turned around to see a teenage boy around his age. He had orange hair, glasses, and wore a dark green jacket with white fur trim around the hood.

"Hey Loke," Greeted Nero, taking a second to recall the teen's name before getting it.

"Not much man," Natsu replied nonchalantly, "What the heck? I can't even read it."

"Read what?" Lucy asked, stepping forward to see why they were gathered around the Request Board.

All of a sudden, Loke flinched away in shock. His eyes were wide open while his jaw looked ready to fall off his face.

"Whoa! You're back too Lucy?!" Loke shouted.

"Geez, it's really nice to see you too," The celestial mage said sardonically, "What is your problem with me?"

"I…uh…nothing," Loke quickly turned and made a break for it; however, he smacked straight into Erza and fell on his back unconscious, groaning in pain.

"Eyes forward, bud," Teased Nero as he snickered a little from the impact Loke had with Erza and then the floor.

"No way!" Erza yelled, ignoring the knocked out Loke on the floor, "You two will not be taking any requests!" She was of course referring to Gray and Natsu.

"Real smooth," Lucy commented.

"Do they have to be so noisy?" Cana asked, sitting at a table while drinking a mug of beer.

"Who cares? They're like the coolest, especially that Demon Slayer Mage," A black haired kid sitting by Cana named Romeo, said.

Cana looked at Romeo incredulously, "You're kidding me, right?"

"Decipher this text and I'll increase your wealth by five hundred-thousand jewels," Natsu read out, and then turned to Happy, "This sounds like a winner to me, what do you think?"

"Sure does!" Happy agreed.

"So it's a translation job?" Gray inquired, "That's a weird request for a Guild."

As the ice mage studied the paper further, he noticed something odd about the writing, "Hey wait a second, that's some crazy ancient stuff. No one's gonna be able to read that, "He then turned to Nero, "Nero, you have any idea what it says?"

"Demons never had the best writing skills," shrugged Nero as he stepped away from the board to stand in front of it, "but not harm trying, right?"

"Hold on, it's written in modern letters too," Happy noted.

"I thought I told you no jobs," Erza stated firmly.

"Don't think that's gonna stop him," Commented Nero as he stood beside Erza and folded his arms.

"Yeah, I can totally read that!" Natsu said, ignoring the redheaded mage. The pink haired wizard looked down at the paper and read out, "Ugo deru rasuchi boro kania…."

Natsu groaned as he grasped both sides of his head, "What?! That's crazy!"

Suddenly, the request paper began to glow brightly, casting different colors of the rainbow on the group who were transfixed on the glowing paper. The light show caught Macao and Wakaba's attention as they sauntered closer to it.

"What's going on?" Macao asked quietly.

"That's just sad," Wakaba commented, "Those kids are so scared of the master's punishment that they're sweating rainbows."

"That's enough booze for you," Macao replied.

A few seconds later, the light died away. The group stood there momentarily until…

"What gives? I'm so cold," Gray remarked, wrapping his body with his arms as he shivered.

That statement puzzled the other mages as their eyes opened slightly. Since when did Gray get cold?

"What? Ice mages don't get cold you big cry baby!" Elfman shouted.

However, Gray was chattering his teeth as his body shook to the core. "I-I'm serious, I'm super cold right now!" Gray shivered.

All the wizards present stared at the raven haired teen, dumbfounded.

"What the?" Natsu snapped out of his stupor, his face sweating a bit, "What's going on? Why do I feel so…hot?"

"Uh…Natsu, are you alright?" Macao asked stupefied, "You've never complained about being hot."

"What are you…?" Gray trailed off. When he caught sight of Natsu, his mouth fell to the floor, "What the heck?!"

"Oh wow!" Lucy squealed happily; however, her cheeks seemed rosier than before, "Check me out, Natsu!"

"Hey! Did you guys get taller or something?" Happy, who was standing on the wooden table, inquired. Suddenly, his eyes widened a bit. 'Uh…what happened to my voice?' The blue cat brought up his paws to his face. His jaw almost fell off from shock.

"What the?! I'm a cat?!" Happy shrieked.

"Uh…yeah…Happy, that's kind of a given." Wakaba noted, though in a bewildered fashion.

The azure cat turned to him and glared. "I'm not Happy, I'm Lucy!"

"WHAT?!" Wakaba, Macao, and Elfman all shouted in unison.

"Why is everyone behaving so foolishly?!" a male voice demanded.

The wizards turned to see Nero standing tall, firm, and more composed than any of them has ever seen. The platinum blonde demon hunter was staring hard at the group in a way the other mages had never thought possible. Although, the way he was looking at them did remind them of one person…

"What...the...," Demanded another, feminine voice, causing everyone to turn to look at at Erza. She was holding out her armored hands, studying them as well as the rest of her body in a perplexed matter. She looked at them and asked, "Why the hell do I look like a girl?"

The present group of Fairy Tail wizards, minus Team Sparda. looked at the redhead strangely. However, the second Nero caught sight of Erza, his composure faltered while his baby blue eyes widened tremendously.

"W-w-wha…" Nero stuttered in shock.

"Uh…I'm no doctor but I would guess it's because you are a girl, Erza," Macao implied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Wrong person, stupid," Replied Erza sharply, "I'm Nero."

That was the real shocker. First Happy says he's Lucy and now Erza was saying that she's Nero. What in the world was going on?

"Oh wow!" The groups turned to Lucy and were met with a shocking sight, "I could be wrong, but I don't think I've always had these. Have I?" The blonde mage remarked, fondling her large breasts.

Wakaba, Elfman, and Macao were left dumbstruck; they were hypnotized and drooled in excitement. Happy, meanwhile, was absolutely appalled as his eyes bulged out. Immediately, the blue cat eyed down the blonde angrily. Happy quickly leaped off the table, flying straight toward the blonde girl.

"Why you!" Happy yelled furiously, "Lucy kick!"

The azure feline landed a direct hit in Lucy's stomach; however, Happy's blow only caused Lucy to grunt a little while he himself received more pain. Happy collapsed to the floor, his right leg throbbing in pain. Lucy and the others stood above him.

Lucy/Happy rolled over to her paws and knees, "What's going on here? Why am I, Happy?" Lucy/Happy mumbled softly, "I'M TOTALLY FREAKING OUT HERE!" she yelled out.

"Ugh…," Loke finally came to as he steadily got up from the floor, "Man, my head." As the orange haired teen's vision focused back to normal, the first thing he saw was a certain blonde mage in front of him.

When she turned away from Lucy/Happy on the floor to look at him, she smiled and waved sheepishly, "Hi!"

"AAHH!" Loki cried out, flinching backwards before bolting in the other direction, leaving a confused Lucy behind.

"That was weird," Happy/Lucy commented.

Elfman, Wakaba, Macao, and Mirajane were left dumbfounded and speechless over everything they were seeing.

"What's going on here?!" Lucy/Happy cried, "First I'm a cat and then there's this creepy lookalike of me!"

"Uh? What are you talking about?" Gray/Natsu asked, cocking a brow in confusion.

"How could all of you be so foolish?" Erza/Nero demanded sternly, standing in front of them. Her voice obviously sounded like Nero's but with a more commanding tone to it, "Isn't it obvious? We've all switched bodies!"

"WHAT?!" Lucy, Gray, Natsu, and Happy shouted simultaneously, while Nero/Erza just facepalmed.

"This is Karma because I shot you, isn't it?" Said Nero offhandedly.

"WHAT?!" Cried everyone who hadn't heard that story, all of the turning to look at Nero/Erza.

Natsu/Gray stepped closer to Nero, panic in his eyes, "Stop fooling around, Nero!"

"I'm Erza, you dimwit!" Erza/Nero retorted.

"W-wait…," Lucy/Happy stuttered, "So…you mean…"

Yes," Erza/Nero replied, "Natsu and Gray, Lucy and Happy, and Nero and I, we've all switched bodies."

"HUH?" everyone in the Guild, besides Nero/Erza, said in astonishment.

"Yep," sighed Nero/Erza pinching the bridge of his nose, "definitely karma for shooting you, Erza."

"Wait, wait, wait," cut in Macao as he looked at the redhead in shock, "you shot Erza?!"

"Yep," nodded Nero/Erza, popping the 'P' in Erza's voice.

"Are you insane?!" He Demanded, shocked that Nero would actually do that.

"No, I'm a demon hunter," responded Nero cynically as he folded his arms, "What do you think is gonna happen when you aim a sword at my throat. But will admit, this is a first, me being inside a girl's body."

Dante could make _so_ many jokes with that statement.

Erza/Nero glared at him intensely, "And don't you even dare think about getting any ideas." She growled in Nero's voice, and from the way it sounded, it actually sent shivers up the spines of a few wizards.

Meanwhile, Nero/Erza just gave her a smirk, "I wouldn't dream of it, babe," Nero/Erza smirked, and then threw her a playful wink.

Erza/Nero lightly gasped and turned away, a bit of red flushing on her face. Thankfully for the strong female mage, no one had seen that. Otherwise, their predicament would've just gotten more awkward. Nero/Erza only raised an eyebrow in confusion as he was the only one who saw.

 _'Huh? I did the wink as a joke, didn't expect her to blush,'_ Thought Nero, but wasn't a joke was the promise he wouldn't try anything. In some aspects he was like Dante, he would always honor his promises, even if he acts like a jokester and sometimes a jerk. Nero himself was a respectable person, once you got to know him and he respected Erza; and while he didn't have his powers anymore, he doubts it would take him long to figure out how to use Erza's powers. Also, he still had his skills as a swordsman.

"The ancient Unpela-ese spell has been cast," A wise, grave voice said.

Everyone turned to see Master Makarov standing at the front doorway, his head down and his hands grasping his smiley-faced cane behind him.

"You kids not feeling like yourselves today, huh?" Makarov quipped.

Team Sparda walked up to the aging master.

"Master, you're back!" Erza/Nero said in relief.

"I had noticed that request on the board," Makarov explained, "By reading what was written on that page allowed you to cast a powerful personality transference, and that spell is called the Changeling."

"Sounds really scary!" Lucy/Happy commented.

"So you're really Natsu, right?" Gray/Natsu asked.

Natsu/Grey glanced back at him. "Yeah?"

The pink haired mage grabbed the onyx-haired teen by the shirt, "You idiot! This is your fault! Because of you now I'm stuck in your body, loser!"

"Hey, all I did was try to read the stupid job request, ice prick!" Natsu/Gray countered.

"That's enough, Natsu…uh…I mean, Gray." Makarov corrected. "However, this spell does more than switch bodies, it switches magic too."

"What?!" the group shouted.

"There's one thing you should know." The old man said grimly. "If the Changeling spell isn't reversed in thirty minutes from the time it was initially cast, you will never return to the way you were before. Or so says the legend, at least."

"WHHAAA?!" the team cried out.

"Fuck me sideways," groaned Nero/Erza as the hunter began to pace in frustration. This was definitely karma. He certainly didn't want to be trapped in Erza's body for the rest of his life. A man being stuck in a woman's body would be extremely awkward, not to mention, he would never hear the end of it from Dante if he found out!

Natsu/Gray ran up to Elfman and Mirajane, who were standing a fair distance behind them along with the other Fairy Tail mages present. "Do you know how long we've been mixed up for?" He asked hysterically.

"Sixteen minutes," Mira answered, "which means you have fourteen left."

This only caused the group to scream, even more, shocked by how much little time remained. They immediately turned to their orange and blue clad master again.

"Gramps isn't there anything you can do to reverse the spell?!" Gray/Natsu cried frantically.

"Hmm," Makarov scratched his nose in contemplation, "Since this is such an ancient magic it would only stand to reason that I… don't know."

Suddenly, the group's eyes became bigger than dinner plates while their jaws fell to the floor, expressions of horror plastered on their faces.

"I must say I am very disappointed," The old mage sighed, "I was looking so forward to punishing you…but it looks like you've got your hands full right now!"

"Hey!" Snapped Nero/Erza, storming right up to Makarov, "I wasn't even supposed to be punished!"

"Hmm," the master nodded, "Yes. It is rather unfortunate that you got caught up in this Erza…uh, Nero."

"'Unfortunate'?! Fucking, 'Unfortunate'?!" Repeated the hunter, in total fury.

The short old man then walked away, "Well, best of luck to you kids," He said in a cheery tone.

The team was left dumbfounded. Natsu/Gray and Lucy/Happy were both lying on the floor, their bodies twitching in shock. Gray/Natsu was on his hands and knees; he too was too horrified to stand. Nero/Erza just began pacing, muttering something's to himself in his anger and annoyance.

"THAT'S IT!" Gray/Natsu yelled, "I can't take it anymore!"

Gray/Natsu swiftly pulled off his black vest and threw it aside, leaving his toned upper body exposed. He was just getting ready to take off his pants too until Natsu/Gray tackled him to the floor.

"Keep it together, perv!" Natsu/Gray exclaimed, wrestling with himself. Excuse the pun.

"No surprise there," commented Nero/Erza, folding his arms across his armored chest, "doesn't matter which body he's in, Gray's still Gray."

"It would appear so," Erza/Nero agreed, watching the two guys wrestle.

Lucy/Happy sprouted a pair of white, feathered wings from her back and flew a few feet off the ground, "I gotta say flying sure is fun, BUT I DON'T WANNA BE STUCK AS A CAT FOREVER!"

"What's so bad about being stuck as me?" Happy/Lucy accused, crying a little bit.

"HEY!" Gray/Natsu cried out, ceasing his fight with Natsu/Gray. Everyone looked to see fire drooling out from his mouth and onto the floor, "What's going on?! I got fire dripping out of my mouth!"

"You idiot!" Natsu/Gray shouted, "Control it!"

"I can't!" Gray/Natsu said; suddenly, the former ice mage's panic caused the flames to come out in torrents, lighting the floor on fire.

The fire began to grow larger and more intense, causing the group of mages to step away.

"Gray, wait, Natsu," said Nero, calmly, "you mind using your ice magic to put this out?"

"I don't know how!" Natsu/Gray replied. Just to humor him, he held out his hands and fiddled with them. Instead of blasting ice like he wanted, he coughed up ice cubes from his mouth, "Aw man!"

Nero and Erza both sweatdropped in frustration. The fire began to expand. If something wasn't done soon, it could burn down the entire Guild.

"Okay, screw this," muttered Nero as he reached for Red Queen, but his hand didn't catch the handle, causing the hunter to glance back before realizing his sword was back with his body, "right, body swap."

Nero/Erza swiftly turned his head to Erza/Nero.

"Erza, use Red Queen to put out the fire with my strength," ordered Nero/Erza.

Erza/Nero only looked at him strangely, "What?"

 _'Right, she doesn't know what the names of my weapons are,'_ realized Nero as he pinched the bridge of his nose, _'no wonder she doesn't know what the fuck I'm talking about.'_

"The giant sword your back," simplified the hunter, pointing behind Erza/Nero.

She lifted upper right across her chest and took out Red Queen before immediately taking notice of the Exceed System. She heard that Nero was an expert swordsman and combatant, but his weapon just confused her. Just why did need a throttle on his sword.

"Uh..." Erza remembered Nero twisting the handle.

"Wait, don't twist the-" began Nero when he saw that the vent was aimed at her head.

However, his warning came too late and Erza/Nero twisted it too full, causing a massive burst of fire to erupt from the exhaust, right into her face. Titania let out a surprised shriek as the flames shot passed her face caused her to drop the sword.

"Crap," swore Nero/Erza as he went over to check on her, "you okay."

"I'm fine," Replied Erza as she held the right side of her face.

The Guild mages gasped as they took fearful steps back. They knew the unique trick that Red Queen possessed and how Erza claimed to basically be the master of every single weapon and sword. If the mighty Erza couldn't control the sword, then that just makes Nero's skill all the more impressive.

"Why do you have that on your sword?" Demanded Erza/Nero as she looked up, removing her right hand, giving Nero/Erza a clear look that his body's eyebrow had been burned off and some of his hair, "What purpose is it supposed to serve?"

"I'll tell you later," Replied Nero/Erza, momentarily forgoing the fact that his body was now without his right eyebrow or a bit of his hair.

Lucy/Happy flew in-between them. "You guys, that fire is kind of getting bigger," She said sheepishly.

"Right," answered Nero/Erza as he turned to Gray/Natsu who had finally stopped himself from hurling fire, "Gray, inhale the fire like Natsu does!"

Gray/Natsu looked at him dubiously, "Are you kidding?! I don't know how to do that!"

"Just do it!" Nero/Erza yelled; sounding a lot like Erza, which made the ice mage turned Dragon Slayer flinch.

Gray/Natsu stood before the flames and closed his eyes, concentrating. Letting out an exhale, he reared back his head as he inhaled deeply. Amazingly, the hot flames were pulled into Gray/Natsu's mouth. In mere seconds, the fire was gone as Gray/Natsu had consumed it all. He let out a big burp, rubbing his mouth.

"Wow," Gray/Natsu breathed, "That actually tasted pretty good."

Natsu/Gray crossed his arms over his chest, "Nice job, ice prick. You almost burned down the Guild."

Gray/Natsu glared back, "What'd you call me!"

Nero/Erza, ignoring their bickering, "Nice job, Gray."

"Agreed," Erza/Nero.

"I believe you dropped something," Commented Makarov, who was sitting on the bar table drinking a mug of presumably alcohol.

"Fuck off," Nero/Erza snapped at Makarov, "You've been sitting there this whole time?"

Makarov laughed, "Well…I was amused."

Erza/Mero turned to Nero/Erza, the memories of what she did prior to twisting Red Queen's handle, "How bad does it look?"

"You look like Adam Savage during that one episode," Commented Nero/Erza as he folded his arms, "you lost an eyebrow."

"Yeah, and you lost a lot of hair too," Wakaba said, standing with the other mages.

"As manly as that sword is, the flames are just dangerous," Elfman added.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," reassured Nero/Erza, walking over to her and laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. Well, technically it was really his shoulder, "It won't look weird in a few hours when my healing factor kicks in. And it takes time to get used to it."

Erza/Nero turned to him, "How can you possibly accomplish anything with it? And by the way, other abilities do you have?"

"Practice," Replied Nero casually a smirk forming on his lips, "and I have Blue Rose which should be in the holster on your, Uh, my left hip. I also can summon a ghost hand and shoot ethereal swords from my right hand. And I can absorb magic and the essence of demons I've beat to make myself stronger."

"How many demons have you defeated?" Asked Erza, raising an eyebrow.

"I lost track after ninety-two," shrugged Nero.

Erza/Nero's eyes widened. She was very impressed. Before Nero and the others left for Galuna Island, she remembered Mirajane telling her that Nero was a demon hunter and had dozens of kills under his belt, each time absorbing a small portion of the demon. But more than Ninety? He had just as many abilities as she did armor and weapons!

"Impressive," Erza/Nero commented, "but since I wasn't here for when you first came to the Guild, do you mind me telling me what all they can do?"

"Uh, let's see," began Nero as he smirked, "super-strength, speed, reflexes, endurance, durability, healing factor, Spectral Bringer, the spectral arm I told you about, Summon Swords, the ethereal swords," listed Nero/Erza, looking up to think for a second before continuing, "Then there's Red Queen, Blue Rose...and that absorption trick which means it's a question of which ability I don't have yet. Well you if we're gonna be stuck like this."

Erza/Nero was left dumbfounded. If what Nero said was true, then he was just as powerful as she was, if not potentially more!

"Great," Lucy/Happy moaned sadly, still flying at eye level with everyone, "All of our magic has been switched but we all stink at it. I hate this. Why me?"

"No need to worry, Lucy!" a feminine voice called out. They all turned to see a petite, blue haired girl named Levy standing by the front doors with the other two members of her team, Jet and Droy standing on either side of her.

"Levy it's you!" Lucy/Happy squealed happily.

"Levy?" Natsu/Gray said.

"Don't worry! The Shadow Gear team is here to save the day," Droy stated confidently, "You guys will be back to normal in no time."

"Oh yeah," Jet added with the same level of confidence as Droy, "We got this, no sweat."

"Now, do your thing Levy," Droy and Jet said together.

"When you guys said 'we got this', you really meant her, huh?" Mirajane joked.

In response, the two men only chuckled.

"You're so kind to help us!" Lucy/Happy said, flying around Levy in joy.

Levy laughed a little, "Anything for a friend; besides, I really want to read your novel. And it would be kinda weird talking about it in front of Happy." She whispered.

"What are you gonna do?" Natsu/Gray interjected.

Later, Levy was seating at bench holding the request paper in her hands. A few books are stacked around her. The others gather behind the blue haired mage.

"Well, I do know a little about ancient texts," Levy explained, "I'll start with what was written on the flier itself."

"Sounds good," Gray/Natsu said, "but do it quick!"

Erza/Nero walked around the table to stand in front of the group. "Listen up everybody; we need to let Levy work in peace."

"Yeah," Lucy/Happy agreed, although her voice was muffled. She then realized that she had a fish in her mouth and gasped in shock. She lowered her wings and fell to the floor on her hands and knees in disappointment. "Why do I have a fish in my mouth?"

"Because they're yummy!" Happy/Lucy replied, and he too had a small fish in-between his teeth.

Levy begins reading a book, her red reading glasses casting a beam of rainbow colored light over the pages, allowing her to read much faster. "Okay… ugo deru…" she mumbled.

"Please hurry," Gray/Natsu said calmly though his expression displayed panic. "We only have ten minutes left."

"Pretty sure saying those words out loud is what got us into this mess," pointed out Nero/Erza, "don't think it's smart saying them again."

"Don't worry," Levy responded nonchalantly, looking between her books and the request. "It's totally safe as long as you don't read everything in the correct order."

"There's not much time!" Natsu/Gray shouted hysterically. "Ugh…I can't take it! I can't take being so cold! Change me back!"

"So how's it going Levy?" Lucy/Happy flew up to the stand on the table edge.

Levy was silent, still looking at the request paper.

"Have you figured it out?" Natsu/Gray asked.

"No," Levy replied disappointed, "I'm stumped!"

Natsu/Gray and Lucy/Happy both let out frustrated yells, whole Nero/Erza said one word, "Fuck."

"No!" Lucy/Happy cried, "I can't stay as some (strange flying) cat forever!"

"What's so terrible about that!?" Happy/Lucy demanded indignantly.

Erza/Nero whimpered, "Surely my fate isn't to remain in a man's body for the rest of my life."

"Get over yourself," muttered Nero/Erza, as he folded his arms across the armor chest plate, "this isn't a day in the past for me either."

"NO!" Natsu/Gray roared. "I hate this! I can't remain in this ice bastard's body forever!"

"Hey!" Gray/Natsu shouted, getting in his rival's face. "I don't wanna stay in your body either, loser!"

"You wanna fight!?" Natsu/Gray demanded.

Erza/Nero groaned gallingly as she fixated a deadly glare upon the duo. "SILENCE!" she yelled, which immediately made them hug one another and shiver in trepidation.

'Whoa,' Nero thought, 'I didn't know my voice could get that powerful.'

"Look I know you guys are freaking out, but I'm still working on it, okay?" Levy reassured the panicking mages.

Natsu/Gray turned to Macao, "How much time do we have left?"

"Eight minutes," Macao answered, holding up a board with the number eight on it, "Hate to say it, but you might wanna start preparing for the worst."

That statement made the whole team freeze in fear. The possibility of actually being trapped in another person's body was frightening. Even Nero found himself unsettled by this. Being stuck in a girl's body was certainly not how he wanted to spend the rest of his days.

A moment later, the newly dubbed 'Team Sparda' was seated on a bench across from Levy as they left her alone to let her work. Her teammates Droy and Jet were cheering her on behind her. The team was dead quiet and remained that way for a couple minutes.

"So what happens if we wind up getting stuck like this?" Gray/Natsu inquired, his chin resting in his hand.

"UH…what do you mean by that?" Natsu/Gray cocked a brow.

"Are we just gonna try to adjust to our new bodies and go back to work?" Gray/Natsu clarified.

"Well, yeah I'd guess we'd have to, it's not like we have a bunch of options," Natsu/Gray said.

"Whatever happens is totally fine with me!" Happy/Lucy smiled.

"WHAT?" Lucy/Happy shouted, "No one asked for your opinion, now did they? Stupid cat! I just want to be a cute girl again."

"Give it a rest, Lucy," cut in Nero, attempting to reassure her, "Nobody's-"

Suddenly, Nero/Erza paused as a realization came to his mind. This made the others look at inquiringly.

"What? What is it, Nero?" Erza/Nero asked, catching onto his pause.

"None of us know how to use each other's magic," answered Nero/Erza as he pinched the rige of his nose, "That said, if we were to take a quest, we'd have better luck getting Cana to stop drinking than completing it."

Shocked looks crossed over the team's faces.

"OH geez you're right!" Natsu/Gray agreed, "We stink, and that means…"

"WE'RE THE WEAKEST TEAM IN FAIRY TAIL NOW!" they shouted simultaneously.

It was true. If the spell wasn't undone, they would be trapped in another's body with no knowledge on how to use that person's powers. And being trapped in another person's body would not only have ramifications on their missions but their personal lives as well.

For Nero, he spent years training in secret with Devil Bringer, learning all the tricks, and when Dante showed up he learned to adapt to changing situations even faster. That being said, he was trapped in a redheaded female mage's body, Nero would have to adapt and learn to use Erza's magic, which shouldn't be difficult. What was difficult, was adapting to the life change. It would be incredibly awkward, a male demon/human hybrid trapped in the body of a woman. Dante would never let him hear the end of it.

"OH MAN, I HATE THIS!" Natsu/Gray bellowed violently, "What's the point of living if I can't burn anything anymore!?"

"I'm a cute Celestial mage! I can't be stuck as a cat forever!" Lucy/Happy cried out.

Happy/Lucy turned to her with an angry look, "You're mean! I happen to like being a cat!"

"This is unacceptable!" Erza/Nero shouted, "I'm an S-Class wizard and I refuse to be a part of Fairy Tail's weakest team…if only I was back in my body."

Nero/Erza narrowed his eyes as he went over to Erza/Nero. As she was ranting, he lifted Blue Rose from the holster. Opening the cylinder, seeing that it was fully loaded, he snapped it closed. Makarov saw what he was doing, but was too slow to stop the hunter from aiming at the ceiling and pulled the trigger. Blue Rose let out a resounding, gutural crack, that caused every single mage in Fairy Tail to jump.

"Everyone, calm the fuck down," stated Nero/Erza calmly as every wizard turned to him, "I agree with you guys, this is bull crap, but whining, griping, and complaining isn't gonna fix our situation." As he spoke, he was deathly calm, which actually unnerved a few wizards, even as he spoke softly, his words echoed like thunder, "That being said, we'll do the only thing we can do and adapt to our new situation. If we have to adapt to our new bodies and powers then fine…that's what we'll do."

The team looked at Nero/Erza in shock. The way Nero spoke calmly, after getting their attention via gunshot, and got them back under control with a commanding voice that rivaled Erza, even though he was technically in her body. Erza/Nero looked at him blankly; the way he took charge and tried to reassure everyone that everything would be fine appealed to her.

However, before anything else could be said, Levy cried out, "Yes that's it!"

Immediately after that exclamation, the team crowed around Levy with a mix of excited and relieved looks.

"Really?" Natsu/Gray asked excitingly, "So you can lift the spell?"

"Go on! Do it!" Gray/Natsu added.

"This is what it says: May this eternal exchange provide you with eternal happiness," Levy smiled, "Kinda cute, isn't it?"

"Ahh…yeah it is." Lucy/Happy gushed.

"Cute," drawled Nero/Erza, "but how does that fucking help us?"

"Yeah, and?" Natsu/Gray demanded.

"In other words, everyone who has been affected by this spell will live happily ever after!" Levy replied, "You're so lucky! I'm so glad I figured it out."

At that moment, it grew deathly quiet as the horrifying realization hit them like a pile of bricks. Finally though…

"OH NO WAY!" Natsu/Gray yelled, "You're telling me we're stuck like this forever!?"

"We wanted you to lift the spell. Not read it, remember?" Gray/Natsu deadpanned.

"OH, that's right. Sorry!" Levy apologized.

Lucy/Happy flew next to Levy and laid a supportive paw on her shoulder. "You got this. I have faith you can do it. But you gotta work a little faster, okay? Maybe there's a hidden message or code or something like that in the request?"

"Yeah," Levy answered more determined. "Good idea."

As Levy resumed her work, Droy and Jet continued cheering her on, the former banging a drum while the latter waved around a fan.

"GO! Go! Go Levy!" Droy and Jet cheered.

Wakaba stared at this scene with a perplexed expression, a sweat drop falling down his face. "Isn't all that racket gonna distract her?"

"Nah," Elfman grinned exuberantly. "They're just trying to get her pumped up!"

Elfman jumped in with Droy and Jet and began cheering her on.

"Ugh," Levy moaned, "I'm still not seeing any kind of a pattern here. It doesn't seem to make any sense."

Macao pulled out a purple board with a yellow three printed on it. "Three minutes left," he said.

"Three minutes!" Lucy/Happy cried.

"Well, this is it," Erza/Nero whined, "This is how I'm gonna spent the rest of my life…as…a man," Erza/Nero fell to her hands and knees and whimpered, "I've worked so hard."

Erza/Nero was about to cry until she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Nero/Erza smiling at her, "If it's any consolation, I know how you feel."

"You do?"

"Yep, being stuck in a woman's body for the rest of my days? Not exactly fun for me," admitted Nero/Erza, "But if I know my track record, we'll get out of this. Somehow, we'll get out of this and back to normal."

Erza/Nero looked at him puzzlingly, "How can you be so sure?"

Nero/Erza shrugged, "Call it experience. It might look bad, but it'll turn around at the last second."

Erza continued to look at him, _'We have less than a couple of minutes left before we are stuck in each other's bodies…yet, he's still confident that everything will work out?'_ She thought, _'Who are you, Nero Sparda?'_

Erza/Nero smiled at him and stood up, _'Whether I'm in this body or hopefully back in mine…I have a gut feeling that I'll enjoy fighting alongside him.'_

"You're right," Erza/Nero conceded.

"Have you figured it out yet?!" Natsu/Gray demanded.

Macao held up a white poster board with a red number one in the center, "Your situation is dire with only one minute to go."

"Where the hell did you even get that?" demanded Nero as he looked at the black haired mage.

"I DON'T RECALL ASKING FOR THE TIME! SO SHUT YOUR MOUTH, KAY?" Natsu/Gray roared, veins throbbing on his forehead.

"Geez, I was just trying to help." Macao muttered.

Levy, meanwhile, was hard at work trying to undo the spell. "Okay, I think I've almost got it worked out." she mumbled.

Behind her, Droy continued to bang the drums while Jet and Elfman waved around fans.

"Work it, Levy! Yeah! You're on fire!" Elfman cheered.

Wakaba sweatdropped. "He's too good at this."

Meanwhile, back with Team Sparda, Master Makarov stood behind Natsu and Gray. "Still trying to break the spell, huh?"

They both turned to the old man with annoyed expressions. "Look if you're trying to teach us a lesson here, we've learned it already okay?" Gray/Natsu said.

"OH!" Makarov's face light up as if an idea had popped up in his brain.

Suddenly, the group nearly gasped in anticipation. The rest of the group crowed in front of him immediately with hope in their eyes.

"Yes, master?" Erza/Nero said eagerly.

The orange clad man was silent for a moment before he shrugged, "Woops! Never mind kids, I've drawn a blank."

At that, the group fell over in deflation; besides Nero, who just stood stationary with his arms and jaw hanging down. However, his shock turned into anger as he glared at the short elderly man.

"I'm this close to shooting you," stated Nero/Erza, holding up his hand, bringing his index and thumb painstakingly close but not touching, "and don't think for a second I'm bluffing."

"You guys have about forty seconds left," Macao informed, holding up a sign with a big number forty on it, "More or less…starting now!"

"What do you mean 'more or less'?!" Natsu/Gray shouted furiously.

Suddenly, Makarov's face brightened once more, "I just remembered something about the spell!"

"What? IS. IT?" demanded Nero/Erza through gritted teeth.

The master turned away, "While it can be lifted I'm afraid it has to be done one pair at a time," He then glanced over his shoulder, "Meaning it's impossible to change all of you back at once!"

"WHAT!?" Natsu/Gray shouted.

"Thirty seconds…ish," Macao said, holding up another sign with a 30 on it.

"Seriously! Where do you keep getting- you know what? Not even gonna ask anymore," Nero/Erza stated.

"So, which pair's going first?" Gray/Natsu asked crossly.

"It should be us!" Natsu/Gray answered.

"Hmph, sounds good to me," Gray/Natsu agreed.

"But that's so unfair!" Lucy/Happy cried out, "It should be me and Happy!"

"Hold on!" Erza/Nero shouted, her vein throbbing violently, "Since I and Nero are Fairy Tail's strongest wizards, we should go first. It's for the good of the Guild."

"Not a wizard!" interjected Nero/Erza exasperated at this point and seriously considering fixing his headphones so that he can make a recording of himself stating that because at this point, he's just wasting his breath.

Immediately, a big argument broke out between five of the six-person team, Nero being left out. He only stood to the side, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, _'They're just as bad as Dante and me!'_ he thought.

"Hold on you guys!" Levy screamed, "I got it!"

The team instantly ceased their squabbling as they gathered close to Levy's work table, "Really?" Lucy/Happy asked.

"Yeah, but listen, I'll try and explain this as quick as I can."

"And nine…eight…," Macao counted down; however, before he could continue he received a wicked haymaker from Natsu/Gray, sending him crashing through a bench unconscious.

"No time!" Natsu/Gray shouted angrily, "Just change us back! Hurry!"

"Yeah…right, here it goes," Levy said. Suddenly, the request paper that had started this mess began to glow brightly once more. She then held out her arms as she chanted, "Aruboroya tesura rugi gou! Aruboroya tesura rugi gou! Aruboroya tesura rugi gou!"

Rainbow colored light and sparkles descended over the team. Then, an awe-inspiring helix of bright colors and magical ciphers appeared over the page, casting light throughout the Guild Hall. The beam then shot into the sky, where anyone from Magnolia could see it.

After a moment, the light died away and the group let out collective sighs. Team Sparda stood frozen in place for a second before Nero blinked a few times. As his focus returned, he looked down at his hands and saw one was gloved and the other was not. A grin formed on his face.

"Everything back in place!" stated Nero as he kicked up Red Queen which had been left lying on the floor for the majority of the time and caught it in his left hand. Sheathing it across his back, he walked a little to the side and stooped down to pick up Blue Rose which was dropped by Erza when she was returned to her own body.

Erza, who was standing to his side, examined herself shortly and smiled too, "I am as well."

Lucy, Happy, Natsu, and Gray blinked a couple times. They looked themselves over and were pleased to find that they were back in their original forms.

"Hey!" Natsu shouted. "We're back in our bodies too!"

"Aye," Happy agreed, flying above his head.

"Man, glad that's over." Gray sighed in relief; unexpectedly, ice chunks started drooling out of his mouth.

"So now you're drooling ice cubes on purpose now?" Wakaba asked.

Lucy ran up to Levy and held her hands, "Levy you're awesome!" she squealed.

"That's right!" the petite girl fist-pumped.

"Oh yeah," Droy said.

"Our cheering worked, huh?" Jet commented.

"You gotta tell us…," Lucy asked, "How'd you do it?"

"Well, when I realized that the words themselves had no meaning, I decided to read them backward," Levy explained.

"Really?" asked Nero, as the others blinked.

"It's actually an old trick," Levy elucidated, "Ancient languages such as this didn't really have that many letters. So sometimes they had to be a little more creative with how they used their words. That's why when I reversed the words, I reversed the spell too."

"How cool," Lucy remarked.

"At least that's over," Natsu said.

"We owe you big time Levy," Gray added.

Levy giggled a bit, "Don't worry about it."

"Good work you kids," The group turned and was met with quite a confusing sight. Mirajane was sitting cross-legged on the bar countertop, but she was holding Makarov's cane behind her back.

"W-wha…," Lucy and Levy stuttered.

"Hey guys, something's wrong," Makarov, who was standing on the floor, said a bit girlishly. "Did I get shorter?"

"Oh no!" Lucy cried out, "You don't think that…"

"That Mirajane switched bodies with Gramps?" Gray finished.

"Fuck..." groaned Nero as he facepalmed.

"Wow!" Makarov/Mira beamed brightly. "You won't hear me complaining about this."

"NO!" Mira/Makarov started waving her little arms around in panic. "This can't be happening!"

"Oh no…" Erza muttered, "Who else has been…"

"All of you just need to man up and get over it, okay?" Cana yelled.

However, that wasn't what was grabbing the team's attention. It was Elfman, sitting on a table across from her, chugging down an entire barrel of beer.

"Hey," Cana said, "what's the deal? Why do I smell like a brewery?"

Suddenly, Elfman set down the barrel and looked around with big, wide eyes. "Wait! What! How did I…Ugh…" his face then began to turn green. "Oh man….I…ugh…I think I really need to take a nap right now." With that said, Elfman fell over and passed out.

"Elfman and Cana?" Gray said. "Anyone else?"

"Hey Droy," Droy looked over to Jet only for his face to fall into shock.

"Yeah? What is it now, Jet?" He looked over and was met with similar shocking results.

"Hey!" They both shouted, pointing at one another. "Stop looking like me!"

"You had to ask didn't you?" demanded Nero as he glared at Gray.

"I don't think anyone's gonna be able to tell the difference with you two." Makarov/Mira commented, and then her expression brightened. "But in my case, having a body like this is a dream come true."

"Please help me, Levy! Help me!" Mira/Makarov cried comically.

Levy and Team Sparda stared at their fellow, body-swapped friends, who were bickering amongst each other. Dumbfounded expressions were plastered on their faces while sweat drops rolled down their faces.

"Oh no…," Levy gapped, "I think I'm a little in over my head here."

"We should be getting paid for this..." sighed Nero as he ran his left hand across the side of his head.

"And you're still missing some hair and your eyebrow," added Happy in a cheeky manner.

"Fuck you."


	10. Chapter 10 Phantom Lord part 1

_**Okay, chapter 10. The Phantom Lord Arc. Things are getting more interesting here, and heated up. For those who have been wondering, when I'm going to introduce the fact that Nero is actually part demon to Fairy Tail, well, be patient and it will appear. Now, I do plan on making a chapter where Nero goes on a job to hunt down a Demon and subsequently gain a new Devil Arm. I won't give details about the arm yet, but it will pay homage to Nevan.**_

 _ **Another update, Nero's gonna get a new ability from a wizard during this arc. Won't say who, but just wait and see. Also, I will be show casing bits of Nero's demonic heritage a bit more in coming chapters before going full Devil Trigger during the climax.**_

 _ **Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the story, sorry if it seems like I'm following too closely to Ultimate Fairy where I'm basically copying Ultimate10's work, that is not my intention. Long story short, getting this chapter going.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing. Kudos to Ultimate10 for inspiring me, credit goes to him and the makers of Fairy Tail and Devil May Cry.**_

* * *

 **Devil Tail**

 ** _Chapter 10: Phantom Lord_**

 ** _10 Miles outside of Magnolia_**

Things had been going pretty well for Team Sparda. Currently, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Happy, and Erza were returning from a successful quest. Nero had, unfortunately, been able to join them as a last second quest came in that involved demons attacking a nearby village. The demon promised to meet back up with them after the job was done.

A few days ago, the team had been involved a spell mishap known as the Changeling spell. While it took some time to figure out, everything was returned to normal, or about as normal as what passed in Fairy Tail Guild. Thanks to Levy, the team was back in their original bodies, though a mishap did occur in the form of other wizards swapping bodies.

After taking a look at the request, Nero figured out that Levy had just mispronounced the words backwards which in turn caused the other Guild members to be switched amongst each other. However, the incident had been resolved and now everything was back to normal…well as normal as things could get for a demon and team of wizards.

At the moment, the team was passing through a small village that was on their way back to Magnolia, and also happened to be the one where Nero was doing the job.

"So where do you think, Nero is?" Asked Happy, to Natsu.

"Eh, he can't be far," brushed off the Dragon Slayer casually as he folded his arms behind his head.

"What kind of job was he doing again?" Asked Lucy, having forgot since she was focused on her own quest.

However, before either Gray or Erza could answer, a twisted cackle filled the air, sending everyone on edge.

"What was that?!" Shivered Happy, looking around.

Leaping down from a building, a form landed in front of the group of wizards. It had a rag-like body, poorly stitched together, wooden peg legs, a single wooden arm, and a massive executioner's curved blade. It has blank eyes and wobbled on its peg legs.

"The heck is that?" Demanded Natsu, having never seen something like this.

"I think it's a demon," suggested Gray. However, it wasn't long before the demon had its attention directed on them. Rushing towards them, the Arm Scarescrow raised its blade up into the air.

It didn't get very far because Erza sprubg into action and impaled both her swords into the chest of the Demon. The creature let out a hiss before sliding off the blade and fell onto its back. Blood leaking out from the wound as the blood on Erza's swords crystallized and evaporated.

"Pitiful," Commented Titania.

"You beat me to the last one," said a familiar voice, causing all the wizards to turn around and see Nero walking towards them, Red Queen resting on his left shoulder while Blue Rose was in his right hand.

"Hello, Nero, how goes your-" Greeted Erza, however, stopped abruptly when Nero suddenly aimed Blue Rose at her and fired. Instead of Erza being shot, a screech echoed through the area. Everyone spun around to see the Arm Scarecrow fall back, missing its head as the body melted away.

"First rule of Demon Hunting: never turn your back to a demon, for any reason," instructed Nero, as he spun Blue Rose on his finger and holstered it.

"No kidding," Commented Natsu as he looked at the spot where the Demon previous was, "the hell was that?"

"Scarecrow, lesser demon. Easy by itself, a littleharder in a large groups," Replied the platinum blonde as he sheathed Red Queen.

"I did not realize that these demons were more resilient than they appear," commented Erza, before turning to Nero, "thank you for correcting my error of assuming the demon would fall so easily."

She then grabbed Nero head and lightly slammed it into her armored chest. It was her way of showing gratitude or apologizing to her friends, in this case both. When she let go, Nero leaned back a bit, with his face flushed.

"Yeah... _*cough*_...n-no problem," stuttered Nero, scratching his nose as he grinned nervously.

"Yes, it is," Erza argued bluntly, "Forgive me. I'm sorry that I doubted you, it won't happen again. If you want, you may punish me."

"Just don't forget what I told you about Demons and we're even," countered Nero, composing himself, "I'm not into that punishment stuff."

"Smart move," the others commented.

"Right," drawled Nero, as he rolled his eyes, "I'll go talk to the mayor and get paid, then we'll head back."

* * *

 _2 hours later..._

 _ **Magnolia**_

Team Sparda, which consisted of Nero, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, and Happy, has finally returned to Magnolia, Nero from a successful Demon Extermination and the others from a quest of their own. Nero had been filled in on the details of the quest and found that it sounded quite interesting, almost so that he wished he was with there. But he was shaking a stick at his own quest which paid a hefty 50,000 jewels. He found a personal enjoyment that he as making more of a profit than Dante mostly likely was.

At the moment, Team Sparda was currently walking down the street to Fairy Tail Guild. Erza was bringing up the rear of the group, pulling her cart full of suitcases. Nero couldn't understand why she brought so much stuff with her on jobs, or even how she possibly carried it around all the time. The Demon Hunter though decided to look past it, since there were many things in this world full of magic that he didn't really comprehend.

"Was that an awesome job or what?" Natsu laughed a hearty laugh with rosy cheeks.

"Well, the client sure seemed to think so," Happy replied.

"Sounds like you guys had fun," Commented Nero, on hand in his pocket and the other holding a bag of his payment, "almost makes me think you didn't break anything."

"Come on!" Groaned Natsu, shooting the hunter an annoyed look, "we don't break that much stuff!"

"I believe it when you start to get along with Gray," taunted Nero, chuckling.

Gray scoffed playfully, "Face it; you guys are just lucky that I decided to come along."

"We're lucky that you begged to come with us?" Natsu countered, "How do yah figure?"

"Because you're as helpful as one of Erza's suitcases," Gray responded.

The Dragon Slayer and ice mage got in one another's face with angry looks, "You better watch your mouth or I'm gonna pack you like a suitcase, pal!" Natsu growled.

"That doesn't make any sense," Gray retorted.

"I rest my case," Commented Nero, before leaning over to Lucy, "they're never gonna get along, are they?"

"No, they are not," Lucy deadpanned. Instead of wearing her usual attire, she was sporting a tight pink shirt with a black skirt. Also, in her arms was her Celestial spirit, Plue. Nero took notice that whenever they were relaxing or not on a job, that was the spirit Lucy tended to summon.

Erza got between the two and forced them apart easily, "Enough boys!" she then turned to Gray, "Now please get dressed."

It was true. Gray had somehow stripped down into a pair of black boxers within the blink of an eye. Nero just rolled his eyes, at this point, he wasn't surprised that Gray couldn't keep his clothes on.

Gray's expression fell into shock, "For crying out loud how does this keep happening?!"

"Piece of advice, Gray," Happy suggested, "Never get in a fight in your underwear."

"Words to live by," snorted Nero in amusement.

"Uh guys, hate to interrupt your conversation, but…," Lucy intervened.

"What's up?" Natsu asked.

She held up the request, which depicted a five hundred jewel reward, "When I took this job I was hoping for it to be a solo mission. So, why did you all come along?" She asked sheepishly.

"Oh come on, isn't it obvious?" the Dragon Slayer said.

"No I don't think so," Lucy replied.

Natsu gave her his trademark toothy grin and a 'thumbs up', "We're Fairy Tail's ultimate team, so we have to stick together."

"Aye sir," Happy agreed.

"And don't you forget it," Gray added.

"With all the craziness and benefits that come with us," added Nero with a smirk along with the others at the blonde mage, "like it or not, you're stuck with us to the bitter end."

Erza only nodded in agreement.

Lucy was blank for a short moment before she smiled, "Yeah we are!"

"No job is too tough, " Natsu stated with confidence, "Not for me, Happy, Nero, Erza, and even droopy pants here."

"Don't call me that," Gray said.

"We are quite a capable bunch," Erza admitted happily.

"A band of misfits," added Nero, "reminds me of my uncles business."

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"HEY! You forgot about me!" Lucy yelled.

As the group continued down the stone street, Natsu laughed a bit, "Oh lighten up Luppy; I'm just messin' with yah."

"Well I don't appreciate it and that is not my name," Lucy replied, annoyed.

Erza stopped as she clenched her fist tightly, "Please, forgive me," She said sincerely, "I truly did not mean to upset you. I let myself get carried away, it will not happen again. If you would like, you may strike me now."

 _'Going a little extreme, even with me,'_ Thought Nero.

"That's okay; I really don't think it's in my best interest," Lucy responded.

"Smart move," Natsu and Gray said simultaneously.

As the team strolled down the street, passing Magnolia citizens stared at them and whispered to one another. They looked at them with albeit…sympathy?

Nero narrowed his eyes, not totally unaccustomed to being looked at, even back in Fortuna shortly after the incident that killed his foster parents; however, the way these people were looking at them seemed suspicious.

"Something's off," Commented Nero, "why is everyone staring at us?"

"It's not the good kind of staring." Happy commented.

"They feel so pity…" Erza said. The redhead then looked forward and quickly stopped in her tracks.

The rest of the group followed her gaze and were dumbstruck. From the distance, the Guild Hall looked very peculiar. They couldn't see much, but from here there appeared to be large poles sticking out in random spots all over the building.

"The hell?" Demanded Nero, mostly to himself, "what happened?"

"What? Why does the Guild look so…bizarre?" Erza inquired.

"Standing here isn't gonna answer that question," retorted Nero as he picked up the pace, "let's go."

Team Sparda continued down the path that led to the Guild Hall. When they finally reached their destination, they were dumbstruck. Several giant iron pillars were protruding out everywhere across the pagoda-shaped building, one was even sticking out through the Fairy Tail sign above the front doors.

"No way," Gray muttered.

"What's happened to it?" Erza asked.

"No," Lucy whimpered lightly, holding her hand over her mouth. "I don't understand."

Nero said nothing as he clenched his right hand. The knuckles of Devil Bringer popping under the pressure. He didn't take jokes too well.

A moment passed as the group stood stationary, gazing in a mixture of shock, confusion, and in Natsu's case, anger.

"Our Guild," Natsu snarled, clenching his fists, "Someone did this to our Guild."

"But who would do such a thing?" Titania said.

"It was Phantom," a female voice answered.

The team, minus Natsu, turned around to see Mirajane standing behind them, ready to break into tears.

"Are you serious?" Gray said calmly.

Natsu turned to look at Mirajane with pure fury, "You mean Phantom did this?" he growled.

"We couldn't do anything to stop them. They got us good," Mirajane sobbed.

"Someone mind telling me, who the hell Phantom is?" Demanded Nero, looking between the gathered wizards.

"Phantom Lord," answered Gray, turning to Nero, "they're a powerful rival Guild. We've never been on the best terms with those jerks…as you can see."

"Rivalry, Huh?" Said Nero, "looks a little more than that."

Later, the group proceeded into the building and headed down a flight of stairs that led to the basement. The basement was usually used for storage but since there were iron pillars everywhere, it was the only place in the Guild Hall unaffected by the devastation.

The rest of the Guild was sitting at makeshift tables, either eating, drinking, or moping. Anyone could tell that their morale was very low. Nero even saw that his friends' seemed disheartened too. This didn't sit well with him. Not even one bit.

"Yo! What's up kids?" Makarov slurred, holding a mug of beer. It was obvious that the master was drunk.

"Uh…hi," Lucy said awkwardly.

"Sorry we weren't here sooner," Erza added, skipping preamble.

"Why the heck are you all just sitting around down here?!" Natsu demanded angrily.

Natsu was ignored as the old mage shifted his gaze to Lucy, "How did it go, Lucy? Did yah finish the job like a good girl?"

"Yeah…I guess so," Lucy replied.

"Master," Erza said firmly, "do you not understand the gravity of this situation?"

"The Guild Hall has been completely destroyed!" Natsu inputted.

"There's no need to get yourselves worked up," Makarov responded, "It's not like it's the end of the world or anything," He then took another big gulp of beer.

"What?" Gray asked.

"Hmph," Makarov continued, "just goes to show you how cowardly those dunderheads in the Phantom Lord Guild really are. They struck when no one was here, is that anything worth bragging about?"

"No one was here?" Erza queried.

"It was after everyone had already left for the night." murmured Mirajane.

"Good time to hit," Commented Nero bitterly, "least nobody got hurt."

Yes," Erza agreed. "Thank goodness for that."

"We shouldn't trouble ourselves with people who don't even have the guts to face us head-on," Makarov asserted, "Forget about those fools."

Suddenly, Natsu slammed his fist into a wooden crate, putting a huge dent in it and sending wooden chips flying.

"Ain't gonna happen, gramps!" the pink haired mage shouted, "We can't just let them trash our place and get away with it!"

"We're not talking about this any longer," Makarov replied calmly, "We'll handle job requests down here until the upstairs is repaired."

"We shouldn't be worrying about…" began the Dragon Slayer, however, the Master wasn't having any of it.

"NATSU!" Makarov yelled, cutting off the aforementioned wizard, "That's enough out of you!"

Unexpectedly, the old man reached out his hand and slapped Lucy's rear.

"Yep," snorted Nero, not entirely surprised, "totally wasted."

"And you spanked me because…," Lucy trailed off to let the old man explain his actions.

"Because he's drunk," supplied Nero, voicing what everyone was thinking.

"Hands to yourself, master!" Mirajane admonished, forgetting what Nero said as her attention was on the old man.

Makarov pulled back his hand and laughed sheepishly. He then jumped off the crate he was sitting on and ran across the room.

"Where are you going?" Natsu demanded.

"Oh, keep your dress on," Makarov retorted, "I gotta take a leak."

Natsu's ire dimmed a bit as he looked at the floor, "I don't understand why he's being like this."

"Listen," said Mirajane, "this is just as hard on him as it is for you. He's mad, but conflict between the Guilds is strictly prohibited."

"But that's not fair!" yelled Natsu, "Those Phantom creeps started this!"

"I know, but that doesn't matter," The white-haired beauty responded.

"If the master's decision is to not retaliate, then we must respect it," Erza said, although there was a hint of reluctance in her voice.

Nero, then looked around the guild, seeing the downcast expressions of all the wizards, and not just the ire of Natsu. It didn't feel right, the Hall being this down. It felt wrong. An idea entered his mind, the time trick he pulled a while back. While he had no clue whether or not he could turn back time or had the power to do that. Seeing how everyone was like this just pissed off Nero to no end.

"If it's of any consolation," began Nero, glancing over at Mira out of the corner of his eye, "I think I might know a way to get the hall back in shape."

"Huh?" Mirajane gapped lightly, "You can do that?"

The rest of the team and the Guild, who overheard Nero's offer, all turned to him bemused and slightly amazed. A few of the Guild members muttered comments, some which questioned Nero's sanity. Though their skepticism was granted; how could one person fix an entire Guild Hall?

"Got a trick I learned from my uncle," supplied Nero, "should be able to fix everything. If not, well...just means we got our work cut out for us."

"Really?" Erza cocked a brow, folding her arms over her chest, unconvinced.

"10 jewels says you're wrong," challenged Nero, folding his arms.

"Well," Mirajane's tone seemed to perk up a bit, "If you can do it, then please do."

"Right," nodded Nero, "first thing I need is for everyone to clear out."

Soon, Nero and the rest of the Guild made its way out of the basement to stand outside the ruined building. They gave Nero a little room as per his request. The newbie member stood in front of the main doors, looking over the damage that had been inflicted.

"Welp," Said Nero to himself, looking down at the gloved Devil Bringer, it pulsed lightly, Nero's eyes flashed crimson red as the power of the appendage flowed through his body, "no turning back now."

Devil Bringer began to glow brightly, nearly glowing through his sleeve and his glove. Nero wasn't sure if he could turn back time. But at the very least, he could just try to fix it the old fashioned way while time was frozen. Raising his right, hand, black and white energy collected around the glove. Before anyone could ask when he would start or what he would do, Nero snapped his fingers.

Then entire turned black and white. Like someone hit the negative light on reality. But what stood out was that everyone was frozen. The birds in the sky were frozen.

Nero turned to look at everyone and saw they were all frozen. He then looked down at Devil Bringer and saw that it was glowing fiercely.

"Guess Deliora gave me a little extra other than the swords," mused Nero, "time to get to work."

Reaching into his coat, Nero drew out his headphones and his phone. A little while back, Nero took it upon himself to get his beloved music player repaired, doing it himself. He got some parts from around with the help of Mira and soon they were playing his tunes like new. Placing the headset on, he began scrolling through his songs until he found what he was looking for.

 _*Hustler, By Zayde Wølf*_

As the music started Nero channeled energy back into Devil Bringer and snapped his fingers again. Another pulse of energy shot out around the area. Suddenly, the iron bars vanished while the pieces of debris began to move back into place. Nero was watching everything repair itself, or more accurately, reverse itself before it was defaced by the Phantom Lords.

As the guild was restoring itself, Nero's eyes flashed red and the demon hunter felt himself grasp his chest as his breathing hitched.

 _'Power...'_ hissed a voice in his mind. The hunter knew that voice. He pushed it aside and focused on the guild.

Two minutes into the repair, Nero was running on fumes, but the guild only needed a few more seconds to repair itself. Gasping slightly, Nero felt Devil Bringer tap out and the area around him returned to normal. As the negative effect faded, in its wake was a fully repaired Fairy Tail Guild Hall. Some wizards gasped in shock while others, like Erza, stared in amazement. The Guild's spirits quickly lifted into joy from the sight of the repaired building. To them it happened in the time it took for Nero to snap his fingers.

The Fairy Tail mages all stared in astonishment and confusion. Natsu stared blankly until realization washed across his face.

"Hey!" he said, starting to smile, "I remember you doing that! You used your time powers to fix the Guild, huh?"

"Yep," gasped Nero as he stumbled slightly, his headphones falling around his neck as the song ended.

Seeing he was about to fall, Erza went over to support him.

"Time powers?" Erza questioned with a raised brow.

"Trick my uncle had and I improve on," wheezed Nero as he tried to support himself, "calls it Quicksilver."

Seeing him so weakened, the rest of Team Sparda joined Erza by Nero; Natsu leaned down by his side.

"You okay, dude?" Natsu asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm good," coughed Nero, "not doing that again for a while."

Natsu offered the demon hunter a hand, which he accepted and supported himself under his own power. Erza turned to look at the fully repaired Guild as the rest of the Guild flooded in with raised spirits, thanking Nero on their way in.

"Good work, Nero," Erza complimented, "That was very kind of you."

She then grabbed Nero's head and lightly slammed it into her armored chest like how she did when he saved her from getting filleted by the Scarecrow earlier in the day.

"It's like what I did for you this morning, no big deal," shrugged Nero, somewhat awkwardly as he lightly blushed, unconsciously scratching his nose, "a friend of mine told me to help out whoever I can."

His mind went back to Kyrie. She would do everything she could to get this place back in order.

"Yes, it is," Erza retorted, snapping Nero back to reality, "Forgive me. I'm sorry that I doubted you, it won't happen again. If you want, you may-"

"If you say 'punish me' I will lose all form of respect for you and punch you," cut off Nero, much to the surprise of his entire time and a little to Erza, having never been cut off before, by anyone other than Makarov, "even then, I wouldn't do anything. An apology is fine."

"Smart move," the others commented.

"Come on," gestured Nero towards the Guild Hall, "drinks are on me."

* * *

 ** _Later_**

Everyone had an excellent time, reaching into the waning hours of the day until dusk had settled in. Lucy was currently walking home, heading across a canal on a street that went through Magnolia. She was pulling her suitcases behind her. Her faithful companion Plue was in front of her. The blonde mage was thinking about the damage done to the Guild by the Phantom Lords, even though it had been repaired by Nero.

"Well, this is some mess we're in now, isn't it Plue?" Lucy asked.

"Huh," the little spirit said.

"I didn't know that Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail had such a rivalry between them." She noted.

"Uh-huh," Plue remarked before he started dancing around her, a large smile on his face.

"Honestly," Lucy admitted, "I thought about joining them before I met up with Natsu. They have a reputation that's just as crazy as Fairy Tail's." the Celestial mage paused, and then smiled. "But I love our Guild, and I don't regret my decision at all."

"Fairy Tail's kinda like my family," Lucy confessed as she opened the door.

As soon as she entered, her eyes bulged open. Sitting at her dinner table eating a large, cooked fish was Erza, Gray, and Nero. Erza was at the front while Gray and Nero were on each side, the latter leaning against the wall with his arms folded. Natsu and Happy were on the floor, the latter was eating a fish of his own.

Nero kept his coat on, however, he did take his holster for Blue Rose and sheath for Red Queen and hung them up on a nearby coat rack. Red Queen, obviously too heavy to hang on the rack without pulling it over, was propped against the wall by the coat rack. Erza wore a white shirt with a blue skirt. Gray sported a pair of black pants and a white buttoned up shirt. Natsu was in his regular attire.

"Very nice place you have here," Erza admired.

"YOU CAME IN WITHOUT ASKING FIRST!" the blonde then threw her at suitcase at Natsu, Nero just watching from the side only snorted, "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

"Since the Guild has been attacked," Erza answered calmly, holding up a cup of tea, "we can assume that there are still Phantom Lord members in town."

"They probably figured out where everyone in Fairy Tail lives by now," Gray added.

Lucy flinched. "Where we live?!" she screeched.

"Mira said it would be safer if we grouped together," Gray clarified, "You know… strength in numbers."

"I guess you're right," Lucy agreed.

"That's why everyone in Fairy Tail is having a slumber party tonight," Happy exclaimed.

"You are a very attractive teenage girl after all," Erza explained, "I wasn't entirely comfortable with you being here alone with Nero, Natsu, and Gray. I felt like I could only relax if I stayed here as well."

"Really?" Frowned Nero as he looked at Titania, "I recall that _you_ asked _me_ to come with you even after I offered to stay at the hall in case Phantom decides to come back."

"It's not time to relax!" Natsu inputted angrily.

"So it was already decided that these three would stay with me?" Lucy inquired.

"Only Natsu and Gray," Erza corrected, "As Nero mentioned I convinced him to come along. After all, we are a team and must stick together."

"But why'd they have to come to my place?" demanded Lucy.

"Whoa!" Happy said, going through a basket of laundry, "You sure have a lot of dirty clothes."

"Hey!" Lucy shouted, "You better get out of my stuff or you're dead meat!"

As Happy went through Lucy's laundry, Plue had picked up a pink lollipop off the ground and started licking it. This quickly caught Natsu's attention.

"Hey Plue," Natsu yelled, "Did you find something to eat? Oh come on, don't be hogging it all!"

"Ahh…," Plue said, still licking at the candy.

"Ooh look Erza, I found some frilly panties you might like," Happy offered mischievously, holding up a pink pair of small panties.

Erza took them and examined them with wide eyes and a bit of sweat dripped down her face, "I can't believe you would actually wear something like this, Lucy," She chimed.

Plue eventually found a box full of sweets, which he and Natsu began to devour happily.

"I'm gonna catch some shuteye," Gray said, lying on Lucy's bed, "so could you please keep it down?"

"Not even your bed, Gray," snickered Nero as he shook his head, however, he suddenly stopped and gave the room a hard look, "in the event I do get a place of my own, and if any of you break into my home and do the same, I am shooting you instantly. I don't give a shit if we're on the same team. You break into the home of a demon hunter, you're going to get shot. Also, Gray, you lost something," that last part Nero said as he took a seat in a chair at a table was to Gray. The ice mage panicked when he realized he was in his boxers.

"You guys are taking this 'make yourselves at home' deal a little too far." Lucy moaned.

"We have a serious problem here," Erza glanced back, looking at the two teenage boys and adult hunter, "You boys' hygiene. I refuse to sleep in a room that reeks of sweat."

"Screw you, I showered this morning," snapped Nero, "If I smelt bad, I would notice."

"I don't wanna take a bath right now," Natsu added.

"But I already got into bed," Gray whined.

Erza brought the three together. Natsu and Gray on the outside while Nero stood in the center. The red head stood behind them with her hands on both Natsu's and Gray's shoulders.

"Come on, boys," Erza urged, "Do we have to take a bath together like we did when we were kids?"

"What the shit?" demanded Nero incredulously, spinning around to look at Erza with wide eyes.

Erza then looked at Nero coyly, "As for you, Nero, you may join us if you would like."

"Fuck me...," muttered Nero as he ran his fingers through his hair, his expression shocked as he was definitely flustered. Dante could make soooo many jokes here.

"What kind of relationship do you guys have?!" Lucy shrieked, equally as stunned as Nero.

"Erza's ultimate team!" Happy commented.

"More like strangest team!" the blonde countered.

"Thank God Dante isn't here," said Nero to himself.

* * *

 _*Later...*_

About an hour later, Lucy and Erza had finished bathing. Gray and Natsu were still a bit reluctant to go while Nero just outright refused to do so. However, he couldn't help but blush ever so slightly when Erza emerged from the bathroom clad in old a pink tower covering her body, water reflecting light off her wet body. He thanked whatever God that existed that she didn't see him blush, however, what caught his attention was when she Re-Quipped into a pink set of pajamas with purple crosses that littered the fabric.

 _'Guess the stereotype that women take forever to get ready in the morning doesn't apply to her,'_ thought Nero.

Later, Natsu was sleeping with his head down on the table while Nero and Lucy sat around him, the former leaning back in his chair, with his feet kicked up on the table. Gray, meanwhile, was sitting at Lucy's desk while Erza took a seat at Lucy's bed in front of the table. Excluding Natsu, the group was discussing an obvious topic, Phantom Lord.

"Do you have any idea why Phantom attacked us out of the blue?" Lucy asked.

"I'm afraid not," Erza replied, "We have had our fair share of scuffles with them in the past, but never on anything of this sort of scale before."

"If Gramps wasn't so scared we could wipe out those punks once and for all," Natsu mumbled.

"You been awake this whole time or did you just now wake up?" Drawled Nero as he glanced at the Dragon Slayer for a second. He sometimes didn't understand Natsu at times.

Gray just glanced at Natsu for a second, "Come on, Natsu," the ice mage scolded the Dragon Slayer lightly, "you know Master Makarov isn't afraid of them. You seem to be forgetting that he's one of the Ten Wizard Saints."

"I didn't give you permission to read that!" Lucy shouted at Gray, who was holding a stack of paper in his hand. She quickly snatched it from him and held it close to her.

"You can't just snatch it out of my hand without at least telling me what happens next," Gray complained.

"Yes, I can," Lucy stated, "I promised Levy she would be the first to read it, so you're just gonna have to wait."

Unexpectedly, Erza held out a hand, expecting for Lucy to give it to her, "You're not getting it either!"

"As funny as it is watching you guys bicker, someone mind telling me what the deal is with these Ten Wizard Saints?" asked Nero, after chuckling for a bit.

"It's an honor bestowed from the Magical Council," answered Erza, "It's an extremely coveted title shared by the ten most powerful wizards on the continent."

"Guess there's more to shorty than I thought," joked Nero, really impressed by the fact that he's one of the strongest wizards on the continent.

"Wha…really?" Lucy stammered.

"Phantom Lord's Guild Master Jose is one of them too," Happy added.

 _'That's true,'_ Erza thought, her mind drifting back to a certain blue haired mage, _'And so is he.'_

Natsu slammed his palm onto the table, nearly breaking it, "He is afraid! He's scared that Phantom has too many members for us to handle!"

"Could you please use your inside voice?" Lucy suggested weakly.

"That's not true and you know it," Gray rebuked sternly, "It's just like what master and Mira said before. The consequences of us going to war with Phantom are nowhere near worth the fight. The order of the magical world is at stake here."

"But I don't understand. Are they really that strong?" the Celestial mage inquired.

Natsu grinned confidently, "They ain't got nothing on us. We can take those clowns."

Erza stood up from the bed, "No. If we were to engage them in battle…neither Guild would survive. Their strength equals ours," that put things into perspective for the Demon Hunter, however, she wasn't finished yet, "Phantom's Master Jose is also one of the Ten Wizard Saints, which means he's on par with Makarov. They also have an elite group of wizards similar to our S-Class, known as the Element 4. But the strongest out of all of them is Black Steel Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer, who I believe was responsible for the destruction done to the Guild Hall."

"There's more than one Dragon Slayer?" interjected Nero, "Thought Natsu was the one and only."

"Yeah, so did I," Lucy added, "So if he's the Iron Dragon Slayer, does that mean he eats iron?"

 _'More so than the average person,'_ mused Nero inwardly.

* * *

 _ **Phantom Lord Guild Hall, Oak Town**_

Phantom Lord Guildhall was closely similar to the Fairy Tail Guildhall. However, what was different was that instead of wood, the walls of the hall were made of dark stone with tables aligned pretty much everywhere. Torches were hung from the walls, acting as the only source of light in the main hall. Sitting alone at a table was a young muscular man with long, black hair that was spiked up. He wore a shabby, black, sleeveless tunic with silver studded edges, a pair of beige pants, and studded black boots. On his right shoulder was a black wing-like ornament jutting upwards.

This was Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer.

The table he was sitting at was covered in a variety of iron materials such as pots and pans. Gajeel was chowing down, not on regular food, but rather from the actual metal items sprawled across the table.

"Hey Gajeel, I heard you made a mess out of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall." A Phantom mage then smirked. "I also heard that one of their mages completely repaired it. Man, sure sucks for you. I mean, after all that work." He then began to laugh.

Gajeel ceased his eating and growled. He swiftly turned to face the mage. Shockingly, Gajeel's arm transformed into a black iron pillar and extended out, slamming into the fellow's face and sending him careening back. The other Phantom Lord wizards who witnessed this all began to laugh loudly.

"How many times do I have to tell yah?" Gajeel growled as his arm reverted from an iron pillar back to normal, "I don't like to be bothered while I'm eating! And besides," he stopped as he stood up on his table, glaring at all his Guildmates, "whether their precious Guild Hall was repaired or not, those Fairy Tail clowns have got nothing on us. We're way more powerful than they could ever hope to be."

His Guildmates all agreed.

"The die has been cast," A voice said. Everyone looked up to see a tall figure standing by the railing of the second floor, his form shrouded by the darkness. This was the Guild Master, Jose, "I compliment your excellent work Gajeel, despite how Fairy Tail's newest member undid it."

"After that little stunt, I realized that we weren't hard enough on them." Gajeel jeered, "So, I decided to leave them a little something extra. A present. One that's sure to get the panties of that Guild in a knot."

"Very good, my boy," Jose praised, "Be sure to not bring any harm to you-know-who, if you please?"

Gajeel only grinned wickedly.

* * *

 ** _Magnolia_**

About twenty four hours after Team Sparda's meeting, Nero, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, and Happy were getting ready to head back to the fully repaired Fairy Tail Guild, Thanks in part by the aforementioned Demon Hunter. However, as they were heading back, the team spotted some sort of disturbance in Southgate Park. A park that resides within Magnolia and wasn't too far from the hall. Upon approach, Nero immediately noticed that the majority of the gathered crowd were members of the guild and citizens of Magnolia. They were gathered around a large tree, one that resides within the center of the park.

However, when the team arrived, they saw the expressions of the crowd. They looked horrified. When the team saw the cause of the crowds expression, the gasped in shock while Nero narrowed his eyes into deadly slits and growled in fury. Hanging from the trunk of the huge tree was Levy, Droy, and Jet. All three of them looked seriously beaten up. Iron clamps were keeping them pinned to the tree trunk, and painted on the tree was the Phantom Guild mark.

"LEVY!" Lucy cried.

Natsu clenched his fists, his eyes burning with fury. Nero was far less contained of his anger as he immediately drew Blue Rose and fired multiple times into the Phantom Lord Guild symbol. Wood splintered and chips flew as the twin Thorns buried themselves into the tree. Every wizard flinched at the crack of the magnum handgun, and looked right towards the Hunter, the look of rage unnerving a few. He might not know who the Phantom Lord Huild was, but no one messes with his team. They hurt his team's family and hung them up like trophies. To the demon hunter, they were no better than demons.

"I don't care what the law is," muttered Nero to himself as he finished emptying Blue Rose, "nobody messes with my team!"

The crowd grew silent and cleared a path for Master Makarov. Instead of his usual attire, he was wearing a pair of black pants and a white coat with the Ten Wizard Saint symbol on the back; though he still held his familiar cane in his hand.

"I can take our headquarters being reduced to rubble," hissed Makarov, "but I will not allow harm to come to my children without TAKING REVENGE!" His grip tightened until it promptly crushed his cane's shaft.

Suddenly, golden light began to shine from beneath the old man. Nero raised an eyebrow. He had never seen Makarov like this, and he could feel an insane amount of power radiating off of him. Nothing like what Sanctus had, but still worth noting.

With an enraged scowl on his face, Makarov yelled, "We have no choice but to go to war!"

"'Bout time," muttered Nero as he holstered Blue Rose. He'd been thinking of paying Phantom a visit after their last stunt.

* * *

 ** _Oak Town, Phantom Lord Guild Hall_**

Back in Oak Town, a small residence located in the Northeastern area of the Kingdom of Fiore, the Phantom Lord Guild had set up shop. The hall itself was a large, stone structure reminiscent to that of a castle. Not like the cathedral in Fortuna, but you get the idea. The hall rose above the other structures in the town, but even then, the stone walls hardly concealed the noise of the Phantom Lord Members as they lounged around, drank beer, spoke to one another, and laughed. Mainly about the deed that had been done a few hours prior.

Gajeel defeating three Fairy Tail members singlehandedly and hanging them up on a tree in a city park for everyone to see had been the buzz of the spoken conversations. However, there were a few murmurs that Fairy Tail had a new wizard of their own, a Demon Slayer at that. Three wizards were sauntering toward the main doors with smug smirks on their faces.

"Wow," one said, "we should go pick off a few Fairies ourselves."

As they approached the exit, the front doors were blasted off of their hinges by a flaming inferno, sending the three wizards careening back. The Phantoms quickly turned their gaze to the main doors, and as the smoke cleared, standing in the doorway was a pissed off Natsu Dragneel.

Following the Dragon Slayer was Nero, Erza, Gray, and the entirity of the Fairy Tail Guild. Lucy, while absent, offered to stay behind at Fairy Tail to hold down the fort and look after team Shadow Gear back within Magnolia Hospital.

"Fairy Tail has come calling!" Makarov declared.

A group of Phantom Lords immediately jumped at Natsu, letting out battle cries. The Fire Dragon Slayer shot out a wall of fire, blasting back the group, their bodies charred and smoking.

"Alright! Who wants to play with fire?" Natsu roared.

Nero gripped Red Queen in his left hand while he drew Blue Rose with his right, "And if you guys wanna fight," offered the demon hunter as he planted the tip of his sword into the ground, and revved the exceed, "then come a get some."

The Phantom mages quickly got over their shock and charged head-on at Fairy Tail. Natsu and Nero led the charge, going right for the largest group, the former engulfing his fists in flames while the latter aimed Blue Rose at the approaching opponents while simultaneously dragging the tip of Red Queen through the ground, began attacking with fire fists, bullets, and jet-powered sword swings.

Meanwhile, Macao held out his hand, and chanted, **"Fish Net!"** Without warning, several bluish-purple tendrils of energy manifested out from a purple magic circle on his hand and wrapped up several Phantom Mages, suspending them in the air.

Macao turned to Wakaba behind him, "Now Wakaba!"

The green shirt man smirked. "On it! Here comes, **Smoke Punch!"** Suddenly, multiple pink magic fists fired out from Wakaba's pipe and punched the Phantom mages trapped in Macao's net.

As each Fairy Tail member held their own fight, Nero was standing in the middle of the Phantom Lord V. Fairy Tail. He had holstered Blue Rose and sheathed Red Queen in order to go for bare fist brawling. He learned a good amount of hand-to-hand combat from Fortuna academy, but Trish and Dante really helped. Which made it all the more easy for Nero to deal with a random member that had used a bench as a springboard to leap at him. Seeing him coming, Nero leaped into the air, flipping in order to catch the man between his legs.

Using the shock, Nero grabbed both sides of the wizard's head and smashed his forehead into the wizards. As they were still suspended, the demon hunter hurled the wizard around and threw him across the room.

After landing back down, a few Phantom Lord wizards charged at Nero from the side, but the hunter just rolled his eyes and summoned two ethereal swords and sent them hurtling at the wizards. The effect was the two being pinned to the wall by the blades before they exploded and knocked them out.

Nero inwardly smirked- he almost felt bad for the Phantom Lord pussies. They were barely anything to him. Even an Assualt or a Scarecrow gave more of a fight than these wannabes. And from the way the battle was shaping out, they had close to nothing on his Guild Mates. But before, Nero could muse any further, he was suddenly surrounded by at least a dozen wizards.

The Hunter just scowled venomously at his foes, "So much for friendly brawling," muttered Nero, before addressing them, "So this is the mighty Phantom Lord? A bunch of wannabes obviously taking big but can't back it up."

"Get that freak!" a Phantom wizard shouted.

Half of the group in front of Nero leaped at Nero, magic circles forming in their hands. However, he wasn't worried instead, he was welcoming it. He raised Devil Bringer, his arm glowing faintly through his sleeve and glove.

"Not so fast," stated the hunter ominously as he suddenly threw his hand out behind him and Spectral Bringer shot out. The ethereal appendage grabbed a wizard by the arm and yanked him right towards Nero faster than the other wizards were traveling.

With a firm grip on the wizard's arm, Nero began using him as a makeshift bludgeon. Letting out a massive battle cry as he swung the poor wizard around, smashing him into his guildmates. Several wizards went flying, a few smashing into walls while others crashed into the ground.

Smashing the wizard he'd been using as a bludgeon, Nero sent him and two other wizards into the air where he'd follow up with Red Queen. Unsheathing Red Queen, he swung it out where the blade connected with the floor in a shower of sparks. Swinging behind him, Nero met the falling wizard with the flat side of his sword to avoid bisecting the man but still allowed Nero to smash him into the other two wizards. Revving up Red Queen's exceed, he sent the trio away where they tumbled across the ground. Nero held his position as his coat billowed behind him. No mercy was to be shown today.

Despite the brutality and the power, Nero was putting out, the other half of the wizards attacked him. One was halfway through bringing his ax down, but the holy knight easily deflected the sword before slashing at the tendon of the wizard, causing his leg to buckle. Ducking under a sword, Nero retaliated by kicking the attacking Phantom in the stomach, sending him flying back. Going back after the wizard he immobilized, Nero thrust the tip of Red Queen right underneath the wizard's arm. Flipping the sword around, he revved the exceed, sending the blade right up, lifting the man into the air and smashed him down onto two other wizards that tried to attack Nero from behind.

Dragging the tip of Red Queen through the floor, the hunter left a long slash as the blade came to rest on his shoulder. Suddenly, a mage had managed to sneak up behind Nero, the hunter spun around and buckled down as his right hand went to the area where the man stabbed Nero.

The man in front of Nero sneered, "Not so tough now, are you Fairy Tail fly?"

"You should know something about flies," stated Nero, his voice completely level as he looked up, straightening himself out to reveal that he caught the magical sword with one hand and was gripping the blade so tightly, he was warping the edge, "some of them can carry diseases."

"W-w-what the…?" he stammered, looking on in shock as the demon hunter snapped his sword in half by just flicking his wrist. Still in shock, he was unprepared for Nero to slug him right in the jaw where the wizard flew backward until he collided with another wizard.

"And I'm not a fly," continued Nero rolling his fingers of Devil Bringer, popping a few joints, leveling a glare at a few Phantom Lord Wizards that had a few of them quaking and other swearing they saw the platnium blonde's eyes flash blood red, "I'm you're worst nightmare." With that, the hunter charged with an enraged yell.

In the midst of the fighting, Makarov stood nonchalantly with his arms crossed and his eyes shut. A large mass of Phantom wizards, who surrounded him, all charged at once. Makarov opened up his eyes, bright golden light shining out of them. All of a sudden, the ground began to shake as Makarov's body increased to a height of sixty feet, about twice the size of the Phantom Nero used when he fought Sanctus Diabloca

He slammed his palm on the stone floor, trapping a few mages underneath. They all stared up in fear and awe.

"He's…a monster!" a Phantom mage said fearfully.

"AND YOU WOULD DARE HURT THIS MONSTER'S CHILDREN!" Makarov bellowed; golden light illuminating off his body. "WERE YOU REALLY FOOLISH ENOUGH TO BELIEVE THE COUNCIL'S LAWS WOULD PROTECT YOU FROM MY RAGE?!"

The Phantom Lord members all paused, expressions of shock and awe plastered on their faces. They were amazed by the power shown in Master Makarov and the members of Fairy Tail.

"He's pretty strong." One remarked.

"Yeah, and his members are strong too." Another added.

"I didn't know Fairy Tail was like this."

As Fairy Tail continued their onslaught on Phantom Lord, the super-grown Master Makarov glanced around. "JOSE, SHOW YOURSELF!"

Erza, who was in her normal Heart Kreuz outfit, slashing two swords away at her opponents, Re-Quipped into her Flame Empress Armor. This armor was primarily dark red but also sported orange and black parts, with the first ones being shaped like flames and the second resembling the limbs of a Dragon. Her bright scarlet hair was tied into a pair of high, long pigtails. In her right hand was a long red, flaming sword.

Erza cried out as she leapt into the air, slashing her flaming sword at a group of Phantom mages. The attack sent them sprawling back charred and beaten.

"TELL ME!" she yelled. "Where can I find Gajeel and the Element 4!?"

Meanwhile, a man with black spiky hair stood atop one of the many timber rafters on the ceiling. Gajeel smirked at the scene taking place. He had to admit, he was impressed by how much power Fairy Tail was showing, beating up his Guild mates like nothing. His eye was especially caught by Master Makarov, Erza, and Nero. And while he had never seen the later, the platinum blonde hair was more than enough to let him know that Nero was the one who repaired the Fairy Tail Guild Hall.

"Ah, the legend herself, Titania Erza," Gajeel said, "I guess Laxus and Mystogan are too scared to play, or do they not care? Either way, Master Jose knew exactly how this was going to go down," He pauses and grins, "Looks like they're really good fighters…for a bunch of scumbags,"

As the battle waged on below, Natsu was consuming the fire that Phantom mages shot at him, which stunned them. The pink haired young man burped as a hungry grin spread on his face, "Oh yeah, now I got a fire in my belly!"

"No way! He ate fire!" a Phantom mage cried.

"You don't think he's one of those?" another asked in fear.

Natsu slammed his fists together, a reddish-orange circle appearing in front of them, "I'm gonna blow you away! **Fire Dragon Roar!"** He put both hands over his mouth like a trumpeter, a huge torrent of flames bursting out. The fire sent the group flying back with burns.

Gray, who wasn't wearing a shirt, stood in the center of a big pack of Phantom mages. The mages all charged at the raven haired teen, but Gray remained calm. He put his fist on top of his palm and held them out.

" **Ice Make: Lance!"**

Without warning, a barrage of icy lances shot out from a magic circle in front of Gray. The lances sent the wizards sprawling back uncontrollably.

Erza had Re-Quipped into her Black Wing Armor. It was black with silver trimming with silver crosses in several places, consisting of a silver-edged breastplate and plates flanking her hips that reached down to her waist-guard, and two wings that had black metal "arms" acting as the wings' leading structure. Her hair was tied into a long ponytail.

As she flew though the air, she slashed her silver blade at her enemies and threw them around like nothing.

Eventually, Natsu and Gray were back-to-back, the former's hands covered in fire while the latter's were shrouded in icy mist.

"You're not doing so bad for being a snowman," Natsu quipped.

"I could say the same for you too, pyro," Gray replied.

While they were complimenting each other, Nero was busy fighting off dozens of Phantom Lord wizards. The wizards were trying to overwhelm him through sheer numbers and constant attacks, but Nero was more than able to handle them. Lesser Demons often used a similar tactic when fighting, just sending constant waves of attackers and hoping to overwhelm him. The first wave was easy enough, the second one, Nero actually had to work to fight.

A Phantom mage held up a rod and fired a bolt of lightning at Nero. The lightning Bolt struck him in the shoulder, scorching his coat and forcing Nero to steady himself on one knee.

"He's weakened! Take him down!" the wizard who'd shot Nero ordered.

"Yeah, he can't take all of us at once!" another shouted.

Taking their golden opportunity, a squad of at least two dozen Phantoms all jumped at the demon hunter. Nero looked up and just scowled as there wasn't much he could do without killing them, as the wizards began to dog pile him. While the large clique piled on top of the Demon Hunter, ten other wizards surrounded the pile. Some were holding magic swords and axes while others were summoning magic circles.

"He's not so tough after all." A mage commented smugly.

Erza, who was still flying in the air in her Black Wing Armor, witnessed Nero get overwhelmed, "Nero, hang on!" she yelled, taking off toward the large pile with her sword reared back.

However, before she got even close a cyan blue light erupted from pile through whatever openning there was and a giant blast of power sent wizards flying in every direction. Erza made sure to dodge the incoming wizards as they sailed by.

Standing up right, Red Queen in his hand, though the tip and blade were resting on the floor was Nero. His coat was billowing behind him, and his hair flowed like it was in water. What stood out most was the fact that blue energy that appeared to be fire was coursing across him and his right arm appeared to be the source. As for his eyes, they were glowing blood red, like how Erza's did when she got angry. However, these eyes were much worse.

 **"You think I'm an easy fight?"** _Demanded Nero, his voice taking on an echo, **"Well, Guess I better prove how wrong you are."**_

The Phantom mages who hadn't been blasted away all stood frozen, shaking, and muttering incoherently. Erza's own eyes widened from seeing this level of power. The energy that came off of Nero, it was not like anything she had sensed, but she could feel it was something that is, no, that _was_ malevolent. Demonic.

"What the hell is this guy?" One shouted.

"What kind of Demon Slayer wizard is this guy?"

"He…he must be very powerful," A guy stuttered timidly.

"WHO CARES!" a brave Phantom wizard shouted, "GET HIM!"

The ten men charged at Nero, but the demon hunter held his ground. If anything, he dared them to attack. With a growl, Nero charged right towards them, Red Queen's Exceed humming as the hunter charged. Getting in range, he began mercilessly, hacking away, sending several mages flying, even snapping weapons like swords and axes in half when Nero swung his sword to intercept the attacks of a few wizards. After swinging down as hard as he could, whilst simultaneously throttling the Exceed in a technique Nero had to take on the attacking ten men; MAX-Act to bring the Exceed up to full, he performed a perform slash, the power of which had him spinning around to keep hold of Red Queen. Flames and metal collided with several wizards and sent the flying back with burns across their bodies and several cuts.

Spinning around to face another band of mages, Nero sheathed Red Queen and drew Blue Rose. Taking aim, he fired at the wizards. Every time he fired, a Summoned Sword would appear and follow each shot. Each shot and sword hit their target, knocking them down and out of the fight. Across the area of unconscious, semi-burned Phantom Guild members, fire was scattered all over and eating away at the air. Erza descended from the air and landed by Nero, just as the power he used vanished and his eyes lost the red glow.

"Quite the impressive display," Commented Erza, looking across the area before turning to Nero.

"Yeah," Said Nero softly, mentally berating himself for nearly losing control. He knew his temper was a big drawback of his. But he couldn't let that get the better of him, "thanks,"

Nero thanked her before turning towards the Titania and immediately noticed her attire. Nero felt a tiny blush form on his face. It didn't leave much to the imagination, but he was also confused, how could something like that protect her? "Interesting Armor you got there, if you can even call it Armor."

"This is my Black Wing Armor," Erza elaborated, "It grants me flight and better offensive capabilities against my enemies."

The duo refocused on their surroundings as another pack of Phantoms was forming a tight circle around them. Nero and Erza were now back-to-back, the former's left hand holstering Blue Rose and wet to Red Queen to rev up the Exceed.

"So," smirked Nero as he glanced at Erza across his shoulder, "you gonna show me just how powerful that armor is?"

Erza smirked, "With pleasure!"

The Phantom Lords yelled as they all jumped at the duo. Erza Scarlet flew into the air and delivered a powerful swipe from her silver blade, sending her attackers careening back. Nero went on the offensive, slashing Red Queen, his foes cried out in pain from the strikes as they flew back and collided with either walls, furniture or whatever was in the hall that wasn't broken or trashed.

Erza landed by Nero's left side, smiling, "Is that powerful enough?" she teased.

"If it has power, it is worth overpowering," smirked Nero as he rested Red Queen on his shoulder.

The two ran over to their other Guild members, stepping over unconscious Phantom Lord members on the way. Some of the wizards who had seen Nero's personality flip were rather surprised, those of them were Natsu.

"Whoa," commented Natsu, "didn't expect that from you, Nero. Didn't think you had a temper like that."

"Like you're one to talk," shot back Nero before his expression shifted, "But the job ain't done yet. Still got some Lord's running around."

It was true. They had successfully subdued a large fraction of Phantom Lord, but there were still plenty left standing. Though they were now wary of Fairy Tail's might, they still surrounded them and were ready to engage. The Fairy Tail Guild stood together and prepared to continue their fight.

"We got 'em right where we want them though," Wakaba said.

"Erza," the redhead looked up the stairs that led to the second floor to see Makarov. He had reverted back to his normal size, but that didn't make him defenseless at all. "I'll leave the rabble to you and the others."

"Yes sir," she acknowledged.

Makarov walked leisurely but with a menacing aura casting off him, "Jose must be on the top floor," he growled, "When I find him, there will be hell to pay."

Erza watched as Makarov disappeared from view, "Please be careful," She prayed.

"He'll be fine, right?" asked Nero, having heard her and turned towards Erza.

The mighty Titania turned to Nero, "Jose is strong, but I'm sure Makarov will be fine."

"Let's hope so," murmured Nero, looking up at the stairs where Makarov disappeared. Despite his size, he knew that the old man was more than strong enough to hold his own in a fight. But still, something bothered him a little.

Makarov walked up to a wall, and without having to touch it, the stone was blasted away. On the rafters above, Gajeel sneered as Makarov proceeded into the giant hole in the wall.

"Now that their little boss man is out of the way," Gajeel said, "it's time I throw myself into the mix."

The Iron Dragon Slayer then jumped off the wooden girders, descending to the floor below. A hungry, sadistic grin spread across his face as he crashed down onto the floor.

Having heard the crash, the members of Fairy Tail Guild and Phantom Lord both turned to the large Phantom Lord sign in the room. Standing on the top was a young man with black spiked hair, a black and silver vest, and had iron studs all over his body.

A few members mumbled in fear from the presence of the man whilst Erza's eyes narrowed from recognition.

"It's the Iron Dragon Slayer," Erza muttered, "Black Steel Gajeel."

"That's him?" asked Nero incredulously, sizing up the wizard, and immediately noting that Gajeel looked more akin to a heavy-metal rocker than a wizard, "Guy looks like a rockstar that Dante would listen to."

Suddenly, Nab, a tan-skinned man wearing a black vest and a necklace of skulls, jumped into view behind Gajeel, "You attacked Levy! AGGHH!"

Before Nab could punch him though, Gajeel transformed his right arm into a large, iron pillar and swiftly slammed it into Nab's torso. Gajeel's iron-club arm kept stretching out until it smashed across the floor, forming a trench and knocking back his own guildmate in the process.

"The hell?" demanded Nero, completely taken by surprise. He attacked his own guildmate.

"What the?!" Gray said; an expression of shock portrayed on his face. "He just knocked back his own guild mates with that attack!"

Black Steel Gajeel jumped from the billboard and landed safely on his feet. He chuckled as his iron-club arm reverted back to normal. "Show me what you got. Unless you scum are too scared to face the great Iron Dragon Slayer." He taunted.

This immediately enraged Elfman. "Too scared!" He lunged straight at Gajeel, his arm, which was transformed into some sort of beast-like appendage, was cocked back. "Real men have no fear!"

An amethyst magic circle appeared in front of Elfman as his beast arm shifted into a bulky, stone-covered one. His stone fist connected with Gajeel's shoulder but had no effect on the black haired man.

"You're Elfman, right?" Gajeel said. He then shifted his other arm into an iron pillar and extended it toward Elfman.

The large white-haired man was quick to dodge the attack though. As Gajeel's arm returned to normal, he then kicked his leg out, which instantly changed into an iron-club and stretched toward Elfman at high speeds. Amazingly, Elfman caught the pillar with his still armored hand.

"Ah, not bad big guy," praised Gajeel.

"Well, that's because I'm a real man," Elfman stated.

"Yeah," Gajeel smirked, "well then, let's see how a real man handles this!"

Without warning, a few lumps grew from Gajeel's leg. They quickly stretched out into miniature pillars and smacked into random Phantom members nearby who were spectating.

"What the hell?!" demanded Nero, his anger spiking, _'He'd willingly attack his own friends?'_

"They're Phantom! You attacked your own men?!" Elfman shouted as he looked at the Phantom members being knocked back by Gajeel's manifested pillars.

"Because I knew it would distract yah!" Gajeel explained. His right arm shifted into a club and slammed into Elfman's face, driving him back.

Natsu jumped into view and used Elfman as a springboard to launch himself at Gajeel. He dodged another iron-club that Black Steel attempted to strike him with. The fire mage lite up his hands with flame and delivered a wicked right hook into Gajeel's face. The blow sent the iron mage flying back and crashing through the bar area.

"Whoa," a scared Phantom mage said, "he sent him flying!"

"No one's ever done that before." Another added uneasily.

With a small groan, Gajeel steadily picked himself out from the wreckage of the ruined bar countertop, glaring at the pinked haired mage who had punched him.

"Allow me to introduce myself," Natsu said with his fists still shrouded in fire, "I'm Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer."

A wicked grin grew across Gajeel's face.

"Elfman, leave this guy to me," Natsu demanded.

"Aw come on!" Elfman complained. "First you used me as a springboard and now you're stealing my man-to-man fight?"

Gajeel jumped forward and shouted, "Iron Dragon Club!"

The onyx haired mage's arm shifted into a large, steel colored pillar and extended toward Natsu. Natsu managed to catch the club but was still driven back a few meters.

"Natsu!" shouted Erza, she and Nero both taking a step forward while the latter's hand went to Red Queen. Both of them were worried about their friend and more than ready and willing to get in on the fight.

However, Natsu came to a stop as his feet found a grip on the stone floor. The fire mage's fingers were now smoking as his hold on Gajeel's clubbed arm tightened.

"You tried to destroy our Guild Hall and then you attacked Levy's team," Natsu snarled. He lifted up his head and glared at his opponent. His hands ignited in flames as his fury increased, "I'm gonna make you pay!"

Natsu tossed Gajeel upward. The iron mage, however, used one of the rafters as a springboard to launch himself back at Natsu. But the Fire Dragon Slayer expected this as he reared back and connected his flaming fist with Gajeel's face, sending him crashing into a wall.

"Look's like Natsu's getting serious," commented Nero, keeping hold of Red Queen, but relaxing his grip slightly.

"Yeah, I'd hate to be that other guy." Macao added.

Elfman huffed.

"He's quite a wizard," Erza said proudly.

"Alright fine," Elfman conceded, "You're manlier than I thought. I'll let you have this one, but you gotta promise me that…"

"Too bad," Natsu interrupted, turning around as he placed a hand on his right bicep. He knew Elfman was fixing to say to leave some for him, "I'm gonna beat him to a pulp!"

Their attention was grabbed again by the sounds of shifting rocks. They turned to the pile of rubble by the wall that Gajeel had crashed into. A fist broke out and stone fragments were moved aside as Gajeel stood back up. He appeared to be unscathed.

"Nice try," the iron mage mocked, "but I'm still standing."

"You won't be for much longer though," Natsu retorted.

Gajeel's grinned widely. "Oh yeah!"

Suddenly, Gajeel rushed forward at blinding speeds. Natsu was unprepared for his opponent's iron-clubbed leg slamming into him. The pink haired mage was thrown back across the floor, forming a crevasse and throwing up rocks and dirt.

"That hurt," Gray remarked.

"This is pretty crazy," Loke noted.

"Everything about this place is crazy," stated Nero, glancing at Loke giving him a blank look.

"Oh what's the matter?" Gajeel prodded. "You can dish it out but you can't take it?"

Instantly, stones and cracked wooden boards went flying from the trench as fire blazed upward. Natsu jumped out and stood in front of the other Dragon Slayer. A hungry smile was spread across his face.

"It's gonna take more than that to keep me down!" proclaimed Natsu.

The black haired mage grinned. "You seriously think you can beat me, yah pyro!?" A light green magic circle appeared around his right fist.

"What do yah mean think? I know I can!" Natsu countered as a fiery colored magic circle instantly appeared around his fist too.

"We'll see about that!" Gajeel yelled. He shifted his arm into a metal club and shot it toward Natsu.

The Fire Dragon Slayer easily caught it with his flaming hands, only being driven back a couple meters.

"Your steel beams can't even touch me." The metal pillar between Natsu's hand began to liquefy as his anger rose. "You better start stepping up your game!"

"The rumors are true." Gajeel said. "You're way more powerful than yah look."

The iron mage pulled back his club arm as it shifted back to normal, a bit of smoke billowing off of his skin. "Ha! That actually burns a little." he jeered. "Is that all yah got, Salamander?"

"That was only my warm-up." Natsu scowled. "I'm just getting started. You ain't seen nothing yet yah metal freak!"

For a moment, the two Dragon Slayers stared down at each other. Fairy Tail and Phantom had all ceased fighting as they watched the fight. The tension in the room was palpable.

Suddenly, the stone floor beneath both Dragon Slayers erupted as they lunged at one another. Natsu threw a right jab and then a left hook, but Gajeel blocked each attack and then punched Natsu in the face, specifically his left eye.

Natsu went sliding back, he growled in pain from the hit to his eye. "Man this guy is tough." He muttered.

Gajeel leaped high and aimed himself to deliver a powerful kick into Natsu. Salamander though cocked back his flaming fist and punched the sole of Gajeel's boots. He went flying upward, but a couple of spikes popped out from the heels of his boots, allowing him to stand upside down from a wooden rafter.

Natsu crouched low and jumped at Gajeel, intending to strike him again. Gajeel was ready as he shifted his arm into an iron-club to block the blow; however, the force behind it sent the iron mage careening upward as he crashed through a couple rafters.

"How do you like that, huh?!" Natsu yelled.

Gajeel grabbed onto a support beam and pierced the rafter with his spiked heels like he did before. "Don't get too cocky! It won't happen again!"

The two continued to glare at each other, the anger between them was profound. The attention of both Guilds had been captured by Natsu and Gajeel's fight. Nero himself also found the fight engrossing, watching along with everyone else as the brawl continued, but despite this, he was more than ready to get into the fight when things started to look hairy.

Gajeel made the first move as he transformed his arm into an iron-pillar and stretched it toward Natsu. The fire mage was quick to dodge out of the way, letting Gajeel's club destroy the girder he was previously standing on. Natsu lit his feet on fire and blasted himself straight at the iron mage, his fist cocked back.

 **"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"** he yelled.

Gajeel was too slow to jump out of the way, but he held up his iron-clubbed arm and used it to block the punch. However, the firepower and strength behind it sent him hurdling downwards. A few Phantom mages jumped out of the way as Gajeel slammed into the floor, creating a shallow crater.

Natsu descended from the rafters and landed on his feet near the crater edge. A hazy dust cloud was billowing over the hole.

Natsu smirked brightly. "Had enough yet!"

There was no response. Natsu, along with the others watching, were beginning to think Gajeel was down for the count. But suddenly, a huge iron-club shot out from the dust cloud and slammed into Natsu's gut with a lot of force. The blow sent the Salamander smacking hard into a wall, burying him under a big pile of rocky rubble.

"Natsu!" Erza cried.

Gajeel stepped out of the small crater, his arm reverting back to normal. A grin of smugness was adorning his lips.

"Anyone else wanna give me a try?" Gajeel challenged.

The demon hunter narrowed his eyes as he clenched Devil Bringer's fist. He'd had enough of this guy's arrogance. And to be honest, he felt inclined to knock the blowhard down a few pegs.

"If you're challenging," spoke up Nero without a moment of hesitation, stepping towards Gajeel at a leisurely pace, pointing Red Queen at him, "I'm taking."

To add to this, Nero revved Red Queen, holding it longer as flames erupted from the port. He also held up Devil Bringer, letting it glow this time through his glove. At this point, he didn't care anymore if his friends saw. Their safety was more important than his secret.

Swinging out his right arm, Spectral Bringer shot out, closing into a massive fist that struck Gajeel, the blow had enough power to cause a small shockwave that sent him sliding back and made a large cloud of smoke. Some members of Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord had to steady themselves under the power of the blow.

Pulling back Spectral Bringer, Nero surveyed the aftermath of the attack. A long trench had been formed, the stone floor crack in several places where the shockwave stuck and a large cloud of smoke billowed into the air.

As the smoke cleared, Fairy Tail was stunned to see Gajeel still standing! He had been forced back a few meters and both of his arms were shifted into thick, iron-clubs, crossed out in front of him. However, there appeared to be some scrapes, a result of being punched through the floor and there was a giant dent in both of his arms. However, he didn't appear to be in any pain.

Gajeel smirked as his arms reverted to normal, "Nice shot. You're that new Demon Slayer mage, right?"

"Who's asking?" retorted Nero, having foregone trying to correct everyone every time they assumed he was a wizard.

Gajeel scowled in response, "You're the guy who undid my makeover to your Guild Hall. I didn't appreciate that!"

 **"Iron Dragon Club!"** He roared.

Nero, in a show of complete insult, lazily lifted his right hand and opened up his palm. Right then and there, Nero caught the pillar, adjusting his footing to avoid being pushed back at all. His coat only billowed behind him as he held the club and stopped it dead with what appeared to be little to no effort.

Gajeel gritted his teeth in frustration as he put more strength into overpowering Nero, but the demon hunter didn't budge and instead calmly adjusted his grip so he could look Gajeel in the eyes.

"Helpful hint," mocked Nero as he shoved the pillar back causing Gajeel to stumble, "take some advice from me, buddy. Shouting your attacks isn't a good way to surprise your enemy."

"Hah!" scoffed Gajeel as the Iron Dragon Slayer's cocky grin grew bigger, "Bring it! You've got nothing on me albino freak!" In Gajeel's mind, he had already beaten Salamander and tanked a giant punch from Nero's Spectral Bringer. He was confident he could win.

"Good," stated Nero, his eyes flashing red, "Means I won't feel bad when I kick your ass!"

Nero suddenly dashed forward.

 **"Iron Dragon Club!"** Gajeel's right arm turned into a metallic pillar and outstretched rapidly towards Nero, the demon hunter responded by blocking with the hilt of Red Queen, but was pushed back this time.

Shoving it aside, Nero charged again, viciously hacking at Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer dodging each attack, but quickly turned both his arms into metal, blocking the blade. A shower of sparks went up as the two metal surfaces collided, however, Nero had just begun his attack.

Taking hold of Red Queen with both hands, he began mercilessly beating his sword into Gajeel's arms, forcing the Dragon Slayer to grit his teeth as he was being beat down to the point where he had to steady himself on one knee. An enraged look was on Nero's face as he pushed down even harder, causing the ground beneath Gajeel.

"Man," commented one of the Phantoms, both Phantom Lord's wizards and Fairy Tail were taken aback by the brutality Nero was showing, "Even I think this is a little far."

"Just what kind of Demon Slayer is he?" added another Phantom.

The Fairy Tail mages looked on in curiosity, especially Erza. Nero had shown that he was more than able to fight, even surprising her with new feats of strength and some abilities. The Queen of the Fairies stared at Nero quizzically, but this time, a little more interested, having noticed Nero's arm glowing slightly. What was he hiding.

"Nice skin buddy," observed Nero, noting that Gajeel's didn't even have a scratch.

"This isn't just metal buddy, these are the scales of an Iron Dragon; good luck trying to get through this!" Gajeel smirked.

Without warning, Gajeel smashed his head into Nero's, catching the demon hunter off guard. Stumbling back, Nero was put onto the defense as Gajeel leaped at him,

 **"Iron Dragon Sword!"** shouted the Dragon Slayer, his right arm forming into a sword of his own. Gajeel began slashing away at Nero, the Demon Hunter deflecting and countering certain strikes. After one swing, Nero had to leap back into the air before raising Red Queen to block a strike that sent him back to the floor and slid about ten yards.

Snapping his head up, Nero was just able to block another slash from Gajeel, although poorly as he stumbled slightly. In hopes of retaliation, he raised his sword again, but the Iron Dragon Slayer bat Red Queen away where it escaped Nero's grasp. The sword tumbled through the air before embedding itself right in the ground about twelve yards away.

"Nero!" cried out Erza as she was about to run in and help, however, she was too late.

Gajeel suddenly dashed forward, his sword arm pointed right at Nero's chest. The Demon Hunter had nowhere to go and could dodge or raise Devil Bringer fast enough to block it. All Nero could do was take the hit. Gajeel impaled Nero right through his chest, the tip bursting out his back as blood stained the blade.

"NERO!" screamed Erza, her eyes wide.

Everyone in Fairy Tail looks on in shock and horror as their friend was impaled right through the chest.

"Come on, is that all you got?" taunted Black Steel to the seeming life corpse that was stuck on his arm sword, "Look's like you're just all talk."

Gajeel went to pull his arm out of the dead body, but suddenly to his shock and horror and the shock of the Phantom Lord mages, Nero's right arm shot up and grabbed the Iron Dragon Slayer's arm.

"Never...assume a hunter...is out," stated Nero, raising his head to look Gajeel dead in the eyes, his own glowing red. He could tell the Dragon Slayer's eyes were trembling, "What's wrong? You look like you've seen-" Nero grunted as he pulled Gajeel's arm out of his chest, blood spurting as the now open stab wound began to heal itself, "a demon."

"But I… you… that… Just I…" stammered Gajeel.

"You should know, I'm not from around here," continued Nero as he kept his grip on the iron sword. As he said this Gajeel created another sword and tried to slash at Nero again, but the hunter caught the blade in his other hand, "And I'm not like the others."

"What are you!? WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU!?" Gajeel demanded in a mixture of anger and fear.

"I'm your worst nightmare," snarled Nero as he tightened his grip on both swords, causing them to warp and bend, the iron mage groaning in discomfort before actually crying out as Nero bent the swords so much, they now were at a 45-degree angle.

However, what Nero did next, shocked and dumbfounded Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord. Suddenly jerking his arms to the sides, the demon hunter snapped both of Gajeel's arm swords off!

"AWW!" Gajeel cried out. His arm quickly shrunk and changed back to normal; thankfully, there weren't any injuries. He looked back and glowered at Nero.

"Hey!" the iron mage shouted indignantly but paused when Nero's right arm began glowing brightly. The broken swords in Nero's hands began to glow in response, while his arm glowed cyan blue, the steel began to glow a dusty silver. The pieces continued to glow until they vanished in Nero's hands and his right arm lost its glow.

"Well," remarked Nero, looking at Devil Bringer, feeling the power course through, "guess I got a little extra power to boot."

Without warning, Nero sent Spectral Bringer right towards Gajeel, taking him by surprise. The Iron Dragon Slayer went careening back until he smashed into a wall, a pile of rubble falling over him.

"That was for Levy and his team, prick," commented Nero in a hostile tone.

A groan caught Nero's attention. He looked to the side to see Natsu standing out of the stone debris, rubbing his torso area.

"You good?" asked Nero, checking on Natsu.

Natsu curtly nodded, "Fine," but glanced down to see the hunter's chest drenched in blood, "Why are you covered in blood?"

Before anything else could be said, the building began to shake violently.

"Everything's shaking," Wakaba noted.

"I guess they're going at it," Loke said.

Nero glanced up and looked around, retrieving Red Queen and sheathing it across his back, "Any idea on what's happening?"

"This is what happens when Master Makarov's angry," Cana remarked.

"It's called the Giant's Wrath," Macao explained.

"Nobody will be able to stop him now," Nab said confidently.

A few Phantom Lord wizards began to whimper in fear.

"He's going to make the Guild Hall collapse!" a Phantom mage cried.

"Considering what you guys did to our guild," stated Nero, turning to look directly at that mage, "It's well deserved."

"When the master gets angry, the master's even manlier," Elfman commented.

Erza, who had Re-Quip back into her Heart Kreuz armor, held up her magic sword and slashed it across the air. "Prepare to fight! We cannot lose as long as Master Makarov is with us!" She declared.

All of a sudden, everyone's attention was grabbed as something fell from the ceiling and crashed to the floor.

"What was that?" someone asked.

"It fell from the rafters."

When the dust cleared, everyone, excluding Nero, gasped in shock and horror. Lying in a small crater in the floor was Makarov. His skin had turned into a sickly green as well as his eyes and hair only a lighter shade.

"It's Gramps!" Natsu shouted.

"What the hell happened to him?" demanded Nero when he saw the state Makarov was in.

"Master!" Erza yelled in worry.

Gray, Natsu, Erza, and Cana immediately came to Makarov's side. Erza picked him up in a cradling position.

"M-m-my m-magic power…it's…," Makarov stuttered, struggling to form a sentence.

"Master," Erza said softly, "calm down."

"What happened to him?" Cana asked.

"I don't know," Gray said, "But I don't sense any magical energy coming from him at all."

"What does that mean?" demanded Nero, turning to gray.

"Gray," Elfman said in disbelief, "are you saying he's just an ordinary old man now?"

"No, that can't be!" Happy exclaimed, ready to break out in tears.

"Come on Gramps," Natsu encouraged, "you can pull through this."

While the Fairy Tail mages were focused on Makarov, Gajeel picked himself up from the pile of rubble. He wasn't injured too badly, only a minor bruise on his chest. As the rest of the Guild was distracted, he leaped up into the rafters. He stuck his spiked heels into the wooden beam so he could stand upside down with his arms crossed.

"Hmph," he mumbled, "guess the fun's over and just when things were starting to get good. I really wanted to get some payback on that Demon Slayer mage."

"I don't understand." Gray said. "Gramps is so powerful, how did they beat him?"

Nero turned his gaze from Makarov to the ceiling. He could see a straight shot all the way to what he presumed was the top floor, where whoever did this to Makarov would probably still be.

"Only one way to find out," Nero stated.

However, any chance of invading the upstairs was completely crushed as the other Phantom Lords begin to rally.

"Their master's been defeated!" a Phantom shouted.

"For real?"

"He's out!"

"You guys," one said, "We can beat 'em."

"Yeah, we can take these flies!" another added.

Erza, with a tear in her eye, turned to the Phantom mages. She had heard them speaking and knew that with the master out, their spirits would be revived. _'This is not good.'_ She thought.

"LET'S GET 'EM!" One cried out.

The now recovered Phantom Lord wizards all charged and attacked Fairy Tail. Natsu quickly lit up his fists with fire and punched a Phantom mage who tried to jump him.

"Don't you start getting cocky!" the Dragon Slayer exclaimed.

Nero immediately put himself between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord, every single mage that was charging stopped when they saw the murderous look in Nero's eyes. It was an open dare, attack him or his friends at their own peril.

Even with the fact that Nero took being impaled and walked it off with no problem, the Phantom Lord's resumed their attack. A clique of Phantoms lunged at Nero, the Demon Hunter unsheathed Red Queen and blocked all them with no problem and shoved them all back with just as much ease.

Taking out Blue Rose, Nero began firing the custom handgun, the weapon cracking loudly as Summoned Swords flew towards mages. But despite holding his own, the hunter could easily see that Phantom was beginning to gain the advantage due to Fairy Tail's fractured spirits. Though Nero could handle himself just fine against these Phantom creeps, he knew that now that the master was down, they had lost their advantage. Continuing the fight would only cause more injuries and led to defeat.

Erza realized the same thing as Nero as she surveyed the battle, _'I can't do this. Without the master we aren't strong enough and our morale is dangerously low,'_ Erza thought.

"We must retreat!" Erza commanded. "Everyone, back to the Guild at once!"

Natsu tossed away a Phantom wizard and stared at Erza incredulously. He wasn't the only one. Gray, Loke, and Elfman looked at her with shocked expressions.

"Erza?" Loke stuttered.

"No way!" Gray protested, "We can't give up!"

"Real men never retreat!" Elfman added.

"I still got some fight in me," Macao muttered. He was banged up and had Cana under his shoulder to support him.

"Me too," Cana concurred.

"No," cut in Nero as he approached them, "As much as I hate running from a fight, this isn't something we're gonna win. Besides, from the looks of things, Makarov doesn't look like he'll last long."

is right. Now retreat!" Erza shouted. "That's an order."

Meanwhile, along the rafters of the Phantom Guild Hall, Gajeel watched as Fairy Tail fled out of the building. While still hanging upside down, he sneered as Fairy Tail began to fall back.

"There they go." He noted. "I knew it wouldn't be long before those gutless cowards gave up and started running for their lives."

"They're retreating with sorrow in their hearts." A man, standing on the rafter above Gajeel, said.

He was a tall, tan-skinned man with a rectangular face. His eyes were covered by a blindfold. He wore a long, green coat, yellow shirt, and a pair of loose pants. On his head was a green top hat that matched his jacket. This was Aria, the strongest member of the Element 4.

Gajeel flipped back up to stand on the girder next to Aria, "Aria, I can see you're creepier than ever," He commented, "I gotta commend you for taking down that Fairy Tail geezer."

"I just followed Master Jose's orders," Then, a waterfall amount of tears began to pour out from beneath his blindfold, "But…thank you!" Aria sobbed.

"Why are you always crying? Geez, cut it out!" Gajeel said in annoyance. A malevolent grin then grew on the iron mage's lips, "So, what happened to that Lucy girl?"

From below, Natsu's keen hearing had picked up what Gajeel had said. He immediately turned to look up at him.

"She's been captured," Aria replied, "The poor wretch is being held in a gloomy cell at headquarters."

"So much for giving her a warm welcome, huh?" Gajeel joked smugly.

"No way," Natsu whispered, stunned over this new information.

"Is there something wrong?" Happy asked with concern.

Natsu didn't respond as he glared up at the Iron Dragon Slayer, "GAJEEL!"

The Iron Dragon Slayer looked down at Natsu and smirked. "We'll finish this someday, Salamander."

Aria extended his right arm behind Gajeel, and then both wizards vanished into thin air.

"Those jerks kidnapped Lucy." Natsu murmured, his anger boiling high.

Happy screamed in response.

"Everybody out!" Erza yelled as flocks of Fairy Tail mages ran past her, bolting for the main gate, "Let's go!"

"No way! I'm not falling back yet," Gray claimed stubbornly, "They're gonna pay for what they did."

Erza came forward and gently lowered Gray's hand, "Please," she begged.

Gray's eyes widened in shock; he certainly wasn't expecting this from the toughest woman in Fairy Tail. She put her face into his chest, tears streaming down her face.

"We need him," She continued, her voice quivering in-between her usual commando tone and sobbing, "We can't win without the master."

Without a word, Gray gave in. Erza lifted her tear-filled face from his chest as both mages sprinted for the door.

Fairy Tail ran out the main doors as they retreated. Nero, who was bringing the rear, looked back to see a swarm of Phantoms still chasing after his friends. The demon hunter shot the roof several times, causing the entrance to collapse on the floor between him and Phantom Lord, blocking any attempts by them to continue their chase.

"Should buy us some stime," Nero said.

Nerp was just about to follow the others until he noticed that a certain Dragon Slayer and flying cat were still in the Guild Hall.

 _'What the hell? What are they still doing here?'_ Nero wondered.

Nero, using every bit of stealth he could muster, went back to the Hall, sneaking in through a window and hid before any Phantom Lord Mages could see him. Though, it seemed like the wizards were more interested in digging their way out than anything else. With that said, Nero continued his search until he found Natsu and Happy. Strolling casually out from a corner and stopped in front of them, Red Queen sheathed on his back as he flipped Blue Rose around on his finger.

"Nero?" Natsu said with a cocked brow, "What are you still doing here?"

"Pretty sure I should be asking you that," Nero replied.

"Natsu says Phantom's kidnapped Lucy!" Happy exclaimed, "He overheard Gajeel talking to one of Guildmatesates."

The demon hunter's eyes widened from this new information. They did what?! Before his anger could get the better of him and rushed off blindly, he needed to think about this.

"Right, we'll find and het her out," Nero stated, "Did that Gajeel say where she was being held?"

"Other than that she's at their headquarters, no," Natsu shook his head. The fire mage then turned his attention to the clique of Phantoms still trying to break through the ice barrier, "But I think one of them might know where that is."

"My thoughts exactly," agreed with Nero as he glanced at Natsu.

The Fire Dragon Slayer stomped over to the nearest unconscious Phantom member and grabbed the collar of his shirt, yanking him off the ground as he dragged him to a nearby storage room where Nero shut the door.

The man woke up and realized who was lifting him. "No!" he screamed, "The Salamander…and the Demon Slayer mage!"

"Hey," Happy shouted angrily, "I'm here too!"

Nero glowered coldly at the man, "You have a lot to tell us, buddy. And trust me, what you saw in the hall, that's nothing compared to what I can really do," swore the hunter.

"Please! Don't hurt me!" The mage begged.

"We won't hurt you," promised Nero, before his eyes flickered blood red, _"much."_

 ** _To Be Continued..._**


	11. Chapter 11 Phantom Lord Part 2

**_Devil Tail_**

 **Chapter 11: Phantom Lord Part 2**

* * *

 ** _1 mile outside Phantom Lord Guild Hall_**

Things had become very heated in the last day. To start off, Phantom Lord attacked a team within Fairy Tail Guild, which prompted Makarov to declare war on the Guild. The undying battle was intense, Nero probably taking the worst hit, however, his nature as part demon healed that injury rapidly, though the hunter already knew that dozens of questions would be asked. Like how he survived, however that would half to wait. At the moment, Natsu, Nero, and Happy were were walking across the rocky terrain surrounding the guild, the hunter carrying the wizard they captured in Spectral Bringer. The reason the wizard was there, to tell them exactly where Lucy was.

"So what are we gonna do now?" Happy inquired, flying right by Natsu's side.

"Isn't it obvious?" Natsu replied, "We're gonna rescue Lucy."

"But there's something we need to do first," Stated Nero as he glared up at the Phantom Lord wizard in his clutches before roughly dropping him on the ground, "asking this guy what he knows."

Approaching the downed Wizard, Natsu grabbed the man by his shoulders, the man struggled against Natsu's iron grip, but his attempts were futile. The Dragon Slayer was too strong for him to overpower.

"Alright, pal," Salamander said, "where is she? Tell me."

"How should I know?" the mage choked out, "I don't know Lucy."

In response, Natsu ignited the man's body on fire, however Nero looked on uncaring for the burning wizard.

The flames weren't hot enough to kill, but certainly hot enough to cause pain. The Phantom began to cry out as he writhed in agony.

"I don't know her!" he cried out.

"Start talking!" Natsu snarled.

"I already told yah, dude, I don't know nothing!" He replied hysterically, and he had reason, being led against his will by two very angry fighters would do that to you, "Now please put out the fire!"

"If any of you Phantom guys hurt another one of my friends, I swear I'll burn every one of you into a pile of ashes!" Natsu threatened, his fury boiling out of him and into the flames covering the Phantom mage, which in turn caused the temperature to rise.

 _'Natsu's a little like me; willing to do whatever it takes to protect his family,'_ Thought Nero, though he would say that he was willing to go to more extreme lengths than Natsu. And something tells him that he would need to go to those lengths to get what they wanted out of this wizard.

The man screamed louder as the fire became hotter and more unbearable, "AHHH! Please, I'm telling yah man, I've never heard of this Lucy chick! If I did I would've told yah by now!"

"Funny you should say that because I was thinking I should've burnt you to a crisp by now," Natsu retorted irately.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"Not that I don't enjoy a good interrogation, I'm getting a little short on patience," Stated Nero as he approached the wizard, before grabbing the wizard by his collar and hoisted him into the air. The man dangled in his grip.

The mage started sweating in fear as he saw the cold look in the hunter's eyes, "Please, don't hurt me!" He Begged.

"Then tell us what we want to know," Stated Nero, "If you do, I'll let you off the hook."

"I don't know!"

"Bullshit," retorted Nero, "you know something, and I wanna know what that is. Natsu, Happy, look away."

The pink haired mage and blue cat looked at each other and shrugged; nevertheless, they did as Nero requested and turned away. Once he was certain they did, Nero glared harshly at the mage.

"Tell us what we want to know," repeated Nero slamming the mage down onto the ground.

"I keep telling you, I don't know anything!" Cried the man, sitting up, looking up in fear at the demon hunter.

 **"No,"** Snarled Nero, his voice changing dramatically, becoming inhumanly distorted, one that rightfully belongs to a monster… no, a demon. His eyes began glowing blood red, as blue energy began coursing across his body while Devil Bringer started to shine through his sleeve and glove, **"You know something. If you don't tell me what that is in the next five seconds..."**

Nero left the threat open to interpretation, because the real threat came. A figure began to form behind the hunter. It was transparent, humanoid in appearance, though clearly not human. It floated just behind the hunter, larger, it had two horns coming out of its shoulders, the right rising up larger than the left, forming a crescent. Two horns rested on the sides of the head, similar to ram's horns. On its left arm, an organic sheath was attached to its forearm. A handle to a sword rested inside the sheath. While the right, aside from the color and transparency, was a dead on dupilicate of Devil Bringer. Sharp claws tipped the fingers of the specter.

 **"I'll show you why I'm a demon hunter."**

"O, God. W-who… what the hell are you?" rasped the mage in fright.

 **"Tell me what it is I want to know,"** growled the hunter, reaching to the mage, the Specter mirroring his movements so that it grabbed the Phantom Lord Wizard by his chest and lifted him up, **"now!"**

"Okay, okay! Our headquarters are up ahead!" the man said hastily, "If I had to guess, I would say she would be locked up there!"

"You should've said that to begin with!" Natsu yelled, still looking away from the scene.

Satisfied with his response, Nero dropped him and withdrew his power. He didn't go full Devil Trigger, if he did, Natsu, Happy, and the Wizard would've been blasted away. The specter vanished as Nero's eyes lost their red glow, just as Natsu and Happy turned around and were shocked to see the man lying on the ground, shaking in terror.

"What did you do?" asked Natsu.

"Don't worry about it," Stated Nero, without even glancing at the Dragon Slayer, "we got what we needed, let's go."

With that, Nero stepped away, heading for the direction of the Phantom Lord's HQ. As far as he was concerned, they had what they needed to get Lucy back. He didn't care if a wizard saw a portion of his power, he didn't care about the consequences that could follow. What he did care about was they had a way to get Lucy home. But if he looked back over his shoulder, he would've noticed that Natsu and Happy glanced at each other for a moment. Both of them curious as to what Nero did to get the mage to confess.

What did he do?

* * *

 ** _Phantom Lord HQ_**

About a mile away from the Guild Hall, and two miles from where Nero, Natsu, and Happy were located, was then Headquarters of the Phantom Lord Guild. The guild was perched on top of a rocky hill, rising far above the hall below, the HQ held a dreary atmosphere. Within the stone walls of the melancholy prison cell, was Lucy.

To prevent her from using magic, or really attempting to escape, her hands bound behind her back. Lucy's brown eyes finally began to flutter open.

As soon as she fully regained consciousness, she instantly sat up with wide eyes and blinked a few times. The Celestial mage was shocked and confused as she tried to figure out where she was and how she got here.

"What the?" she said to herself, trying to remember the events prior, "How did I get here?"

Suddenly, a figure appeared outside the cell, looking in through a small iron-barred window with only the lower half of his face visible.

"So you're finally awake," The man said, "I was getting worried about you, Lucy."

Lucy turned to the door, and asked, "Who are you?"

The metal door opened and revealed a tall, slim man with long, straight black hair that reached his shoulders. His lips were dark colored while his face was long and sharp. His attire consisted of a purple jester-like coat with a high collar, two dark blue prominent wings similar to a bat's on his back, a plain white shirt, and a purple witch-like hat bearing Phantom Lord's symbol.

He looked at Lucy with narrowed dark eyes and a malign smile, "I am Master Jose Porla," he answered, "of the Phantom Lord Guild."

"You're with Phantom?!" Lucy shouted angrily.

The blonde mage then recalled what had happened earlier. She remembered getting trapped in a sphere of water, courtesy of Juvia the rain woman, a member of the Element 4, and passing out inside of it.

"I would like to apologize for this dingy cell," Jose said, stepping into the cell, "being tied up must be degrading. But I'm afraid I had no choice my dear. That is how you treat a prisoner after all."

"You're the jerks who attacked my friend Levy and her team!" Lucy yelled, ignoring Jose's prattle, "You better let me go. My friends are gonna come looking for me."

Jose turned away, rubbing his chin in fake thought, "Depending on your willingness to cooperate, I'm fully prepared to treat you as a distinguished guest rather than a lowly prisoner."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Lucy. All of a sudden, when she noticed a pink centipede crawling on her leg, she shrieked in a girlish manner, "Awww! YUCK! A bug crawled on me!"

Jose smiled smugly, "See? You don't wanna stay in here, do you? I have a fully decorated suite ready for you, if you promise to behave."

"Why does your Guild keep attacking us?" Lucy demanded, not listening to what Jose's offer.

"Who is 'us'? Oh! I'm sorry are you talking about Fairy Tail?" Jose inquired in a mocking tone. He smiled sinisterly, showing off his pearly white teeth, "It was a means to an end, and that's all."

Lucy continued to stare at Jose determinedly, "What?"

"You see, we were working on our main objective of acquiring a certain someone." The Phantom master explained, "They happened to be a member of Fairy Tail so if we have to destroy the Guild to get a hold of them, so be it."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Well my, my you're such a naïve young lady," Jose remarked, "not at all what I would expect from a debutante."

Lucy lightly gasped while her eyes widened considerably.

"I'm talking about you of course," He continued, "Lady Lucy, the daughter of the wealthy Heartfilia family."

"But..." gasped Lucy, her expression swiftly changing into shock and confusion, but regained itself in calmness as the mage composed herself enough to look at the Phantom Lord guild Master, But this time, her gaze held a different fire as to the one before, "how did you find out about that?"

"You know, I'm surprised you never told your fellow Guild members the truth," Jose admitted, fully expecting the girl to reveal that bit of information at some point, "And I don't understand why the daughter of a wealthy tycoon would stoop to such dangerous work as wizard-ing for such a low-class Guild. Do you?"

"I've…been kidnapped?" Supplied Lucy, simplifying the situation she was currently in.

"No my dear, I promise it's not like that," corrected Jose, "We're not looking for ransom money; we're just doing our job. We were hired by your father to bring you home to him."

In response, Lucy gasped in shock as her face paled a bit, "No," the blonde's words quivered as her head hung low. After a moment or two, she found her voice, and said to no one in particular, "I don't understand. Why would he want me back?"

"Why do you seem so confused? Any father would go looking for the daughter who ran away from home," Jose replied, even though the question was never for him.

The blonde mage's eyes were closed as she clenched her teeth together, trying to keep herself from crying, "No…not him. Honestly I'm shocked he even noticed I was gone," She then snapped her head back up to Jose, her eyes burning with fury, "I'm not ever going back to that house! I don't want anything to do with him!"

"Oh dear, I should've know you would be problematic," The master of Phantom Lord sighed, however, his creepy smile never wavering.

"Well then, you might as well let me go," Lucy stated.

"I'm sorry but I can't do that," He retorted, causing Lucy to look at him in worry.

"Please, I need to go to the bathroom." She said, a sweat drop falling from her brows. However, the Master wasn't buying it as he gave her an unconvinced look.

"Give me a break. You don't think I would fall for the oldest trick in the book, do you?" Jose muttered.

Lucy knew he wouldn't believe her, and if she wanted to get out of here, she'd have to make it seem real. So, the Celestial Mage began to squirm around, making it seem like she really did need to go, "No, please." She begged, "I'm dying here."

Jose grinned, "Fine then," He then brought forth a bucket out of thin air and laid it in front of her, "Go ahead."

"A bucket!" the Celestial wizard cried incredulously, having not expected him to do that.

Jose chuckled in amusement, knowing the old trick, "I'm ready for any trick you may throw my way."

Lucy sighed, and then stood up and wiggled behind the bucket, Guess her plan would need a little modification, "Guess it'll have to do," She conceded.

"You're gonna do it!?" Jose shouted, dumbfounded. His left eye began to twitch as he ground his teeth together in disgust, "Well…I have never met such a vulgar young lady!" He turned away, "I'll turn away because I'm a gentleman."

Lucy smirked in victory. She then kicked Jose right between the legs with as much force as she could unleash. As a result, Jose cried out in pain and collapsed to the floor, his legs clenched together as he writhed in agony. While this might have not been her original plan, it was good enough.

"You know," Lucy retorted, looking down at the writheding master, "there's a reason old tricks are still around, because they work!"

Lucy then got up, glanced back and winked at the downed wizard, "Bye! Take care, 'kay?"

Lucy bolted for the nearest exit, which happened to be a large opening that led outside. However, she quickly stopped when she saw the opening was actually a window that appeared to be over ten stories off the ground. She let out a collective gasp of fear, the cool wind blowing against her body.

Jose grunted as he steadily stood back up, though he was still clutching his groin area, "Oops! I forgot to mention…this cell is several stories high," With pained effort, Jose slowly walked toward her, though, still holding his crotch, "I must admit, you got a number on me, young lady."

Lucy glanced down at the ground far below. She shut her eyes as painful memories of her father returned to her.

"But you're not gonna get away with it," Jose continued, an uncanny smile reappearing on his black lips, "You will be punished. I'll show you just how terrifying Phantom Lord can be."

Lucy's face turned into rock-hard determination. With a deep inhale, Lucy did the unthinkable. She let herself fall backwards and fall over the edge. Jose, as a result, gasped from absolute shock.

As the blonde mage plummeted to her doom, she thought, _'I heard him in the distance. I know he's here.'_

"NATSU!" Lucy screamed, letting go of all the air in her lungs.

Suddenly, Natsu came running across the rocky terrain at full speed, his face set in determination.

"LUCY!"

With a huge amount of strength, Natsu crouched low and leaped into the air. Miraculously, Natsu caught the blonde haired mage in his arms. The momentum from his jump sent him and Lucy crashing into an old brick wall; however, Natsu made sure to take the full impact.

Chasing behind them were Nero and Happy, the cat flying ahead of the Demon Hunter.

"Woah!" Gasped Happy in surprise, "he caught her."

"Yeah, for a second, thought we'd have a problem," Commented Nero, as he approached the two wizards.

Getting to the scene, the demon decided to look away at the awkward sight of Lucy's large breasts being pressed right into Natsu's face. A little sweat drop formed on the hunter's brow as he looked away.

"Made it just in time," stated Natsu, though his words were slightly muffled, due to Lucy's assets in his face.

"Yeah," Agreed Lucy, though her voice was weak, "thank you. I knew you'd save me."

After untangling themselves from each other, Natsu helped Lucy to her feet and got the rope untied from her wrists.

"There you go," Said Natsu as he discarded the rope, but his expression switched to concern for his friend, "Are you okay?" He asked; feeling very concerned for his partner.

Lucy nodded, but with a downcast expression on her face, "I think so."

"Hey?" Asked Nero placing a hand on her shoulder, giving the girl a concerned look, "you sure you're fine?"

He had taken a good look at Lucy, and no, not in that way, but he noticed that something was off about her. She seemed so desolate, and he doubted it was because she had fallen from such a height. Something had happened while she was in Phantom's clutches.

"Yeah," repeated Lucy, but her expression never changed.

"That's good news," Happy replied, "Okay, we better head back to the Guild."

"What? That's their headquarters! Let's get 'em!" Natsu protested.

"We can't!" the blue cat disputed. "Erza told us to retreat!"

"Because she's a wimp! I'll face those guys myself if I have to."

"No, we're going back," Stated Nero, leveling a glare at Natsu, "we both saw what they did to Makarov."

"Exactly! That's why I wanna get revenge!" The Dragon Slayer declared.

"But you're not strong enough to fight them all on your own!" Happy argued.

"Who said I was going alone? We have Nero here to help out," Natsu pointed out, however, the demon hunter immediately shot down his idea.

"No you don't, Natsu," disputed Nero, "We got Lucy out, now we're heading back. I might be tempted to take the fight to them right now, but on my terms."

"Oh come on!" the fire mage protested.

"I'm sorry," Lucy whimpered weakly, clutching the end of her blue skirt, "I'm so sorry."

Nero, Natsu, and Happy quickly ceased their quarreling and turned to Lucy in confusion. Their eyes widened a bit when they noticed that she was beginning to cry.

"All of this…is my fault. But I don't wanna leave. I wanna stay with you guys," She choked out through the tears, turning to face them.

The trio looked at her in worry, "What's wrong? You're crying. Why are you upset?" Natsu asked.

"You can tell us," Happy said softly.

Lucy didn't respond as she continued to cry.

"You're one of us. You don't have to leave," Natsu added.

"I'd hate to be 'that guy' but we need to go," interjected Nero, "Pretty sure we might be overstaying our welcome."

Natsu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah okay, I guess we should," He conceded. He turned to her, "Okay Lucy, time to get up."

"Don't be so rough with her. Remember, girls are delicate," Happy chided.

"Okay, I'll carry you on my back. Is that cool?" Natsu asked the blonde girl.

Lucy only cried in response.

"Ahh," Happy moaned, "look what you did. You made the poor girl cry again."

"I was trying to help," Natsu defended as he placed Lucy on his back, crossing her legs over his waist while she wrapped her arms around his neck, her teary face buried into Natsu's shoulder.

"By the looks of things, she would've been crying anyway, Happy," commented Nero dryly, seeing that the Celestial Wizard would've started the waterworks if Natsu had said anything or if he didn't.

But that didn't really matter as the Demon Hunter, Dragon Slayer, and flying cat sauntered down the trail they'd come from, leaving the Phantom Lord headquarters in their wake. However, Nero had a feeling in his gut that this was just the beginning.

* * *

 _ **Back in prison cell**_

Within the confines of the gloomy cell that had once housed Lucy, Master Jose had fallen to his knees, holding his crotch in agony. Lucy packed a helluva kick. He began to hiss in anger until suddenly his form was shrouded by menacing purplish-black magic energy.

"SHE MADE ME ANGRY! HER FATE IS SEALED!" Jose bellowed furiously, his dark magic erupting around him. One way or another, he was going to have his revenge, the job be damned now.

* * *

 _ **Later**_

 _ **Fairy Tail Guild Hall**_

Back at the guild hall, Fairy Tail wizards and mages were still recovering from various injuries they had received during the battle with Phantom Lord. The overall morale of the guild was at an all-time low, and with reason: Makarov had been defeated and was very sick; and, they'd had to retreat from their fight with Phantom.

A few mages, which included Macao and Wakaba, had crowded at a table in hopes of hacking up a plan for a counterattack. Meanwhile, Nero, Natsu, Happy, Gray, Elfman, and Lucy were by a wall. The celestial wizard was sitting on a barrel in dismay. The whole group had looks of thought plastered on their faces.

When Nero, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy made it back after rescuing the Celestial Wizard, she revealed to them why she was captured by Phantom Lord and what made her so important to them. To their surprise, Lucy was actually once part of an extremely wealthy family; but her father, who was her only living parent, her mother died a while back. While he was her only parent, her father cared very little for her, so much so that Lucy actually ran away because of his lack of care. But now, he had hired Phantom Lord to bring her back for reasons unknown.

Nero, who had his arms crossed and was currently leaning against the wall just beside the aforementioned Mage, glanced at Lucy, a look of concern, and understanding. He knew what it was like to have parents not care for you, at least his biological. He wouldn't claim to know how his mother felt as he never met her, but his father... The Hunter shook his head as he wouldn't let himself get dragged into that, what was important was Lucy, and she had been blaming herself for everything that had happened.

"Don't worry, Lucy," promised Nero, "Makarov's gonna be fine and we'll get payback for him."

That did little to help Lucy as her head sunk lower. "I know." She mumbled. "I'm not worried about that." She paused, appearing to be on the verge of crying again. "It's just…all my fault."

"Being targeted by powerful people is just one of the downsides of being rich," Elfman stated. He then smirked proudly, "At least you're protected by a real man like me."

Gray glowered back at him, "Hey! Would you give it a rest already!?"

"I gotta say I was pretty shocked when I heard the news," Happy confessed, standing in front of her, "Why'd you hide the truth from us, Lucy?"

"I wasn't trying to hide anything," She replied, "I mean, there's no way to bring up that I'm a runaway in casual conversation. I've been gone for nearly a year and my father hasn't cared. Now, all of a sudden, he wants to force me to come home? He's done all those horrible things just to bring me back. I hate his guts!"

Nero, as well as the other members of the group looked at Lucy with sympathy. The hunter could also relate to an extent with her. A father's job is to care for his children, and so far, all Lucys' has done is make mistake after mistake. However, after listening to Lucy's tragic story, Nero began to wonder if all the members of Fairy Tail have a hard past before joining the guild. Despite being in the guild for almost two weeks, he was getting the notion that that was true.

"Still, if I hadn't run away in the first place none of this would have ever happened," Lucy said dejectedly.

"Come on, don't be ridiculous," Elfman argued, "Your dad's the one to blame."

"Idiot!" Gray yelled.

"Uh…," the brute stuttered as he quickly corrected himself, "I mean that it's Phantom's fault!"

"No," Lucy said, "I'm the one who brought trouble to the Guild because of my own selfish choices. I'm so very sorry. I'm just gonna go back home and hopefully, this will all be over."

"Gotta disagree with you on that, Lucy," countered Nero, but used a soft tone, "based on what I've seen from Phantom Lord, and my own experiences, this isn't about the money anymore I think."

"Nero's right, Luce," agreed Natsu, giving a big wide smile, "Besides, I can't see yah playing the part of a pretty princess lying around in your mansion."

Lucy's response was to the Dragon Slayer was to only stare at him. Her breathing getting caught in her throat.

"Laughing with us in this filthy Guild Hall, going on adventures even though you freak out all the time," Natsu proclaimed, still holding his wide grin, even as the Celestial Mage turned away from him, thinking about what he said, "that's who you really are. You said you wanted to stay with us. Why would you ever go back to the place you ran away from? C'mon, who are you trying to kid? You're Lucy of Fairy Tail. No more running 'cause you belong here with us."

After Natsu had finished his speech, Nero gave a look between Lucy and the Dragon Slayer, giving the latter a nod. Lucy's lower lip pouted out as a few stray tears trailed down her face, and there wasn't even a debate, she was gonna cry again. Nero knew what Natsu did, she had to hear it, and he commended the Dragon Slayer on what he did. But, Gray, was rubbing the back of his head, looking a bit sheepish, as for Elfman, he shivered in fear.

"Ah c'mon, don't cry," Gray said, "It's just not like you."

"Please!" begged Elfman, "Real men are weak against womanly tears!"

Meanwhile, Cana and Mira were by the bar, trying to get a hold of the Guild's other S-Class wizards. Gildarts was off on a long quest and unavailable, leaving Laxus and Mystogan as their only options to call upon. Cana had a set of magical playing cards set up in front of her, trying to establish a connection with Mystogan; however, her attempts were to no avail.

Eventually, she threw her cards off the table in frustration, "C'mon! I'm not getting any kind of read on where Mystogan is!"

Mirajane, who was sitting at the bar, looked back, "Oh dear, you did your best," She assured gently.

"If Lucy's their real target, then they're bound to attack," Cana said, "And I would bet on it being sooner than later. Right now, we just got too many wounded to put up much of a fight."

Mira turned forward, her eyes closed in sorrow, "Master is seriously wounded and we can't locate Mystogan," She then looked up and started into lacrima ball sitting on a golden four-legged stand, "You're the only one we can turn to. Please help us, Laxus."

Suddenly, the image of a blonde man with spiky hair that was Laxus, grandson of Makarov and one of the most powerful mages in Fairy Tail, appeared in the lacrima. His expression portrayed annoyance.

"We could really use you right now," Mirajane pleaded, "Fairy Tail's in grave danger."

However, both women were shocked to see Laxus laughing loudly, _'Man! Makarov is freaking pathetic!'_ He then ceased his laughing and sneered, _'I don't see how this is remotely my problem. You're big girls, so deal with it yourselves!'_

"So you're not gonna help us!?" Cana shouted incredulously.

 _'Of course not!'_ Laxus scoffed as he looked at her condescendingly, _'Why would I? That senile old toad started this. Why do I have to be the one to clean up his mess?'_

Mira furrowed her brows angrily, but she kept her emotions under check, "Please Laxus," she pleaded again, "Phantom Lord is trying to kidnap Lucy."

 _'Who?'_ questioned Laxus before looking up for a moment in a mock attempt to remember who they referring to, _'Do I even know her? Oh, wait…the new girl? I tell ya what; if you can talk her into being my woman I'll do whatever she wants.'_

"You are such a pig!" Cana yelled.

Laxus scowled, he didn't enjoy being called name, _'Are you sure you want to talk that way to a guy you're begging to help yah? Do me a favor, if that geezer manages to pull through this, tell him he's over the hill and he should hand the Guild over to me!'_ the S-Class mage broke out into another fit of laughter. He was enjoying this far too much.

Suddenly the lacrima shattered into tiny pieces, courtesy of Mirajane. The white-haired woman stood there with her fists clenched and tears racing down her face. Cana, meanwhile, looked at her in shock.

"Mira?" she whispered.

"I don't understand," Mirajane whimpered, "How can someone in Fairy Tail be so heartless and cruel?" She then turned around with determination on her face, "I can't just sit here and watch. I must join the others and fight!"

"Wait!" Cana disputed, "Don't be ridiculous!"

"I'm only useless being here at the Guild Hall," Mira retorted, "I wanna help!"

The card mage laid a supportive hand on her shoulder, "I understand but you'll only get in the way as you are now…even if you were once an S-Class wizard."

Mirajane glanced at Cana with tears streaming down her beautiful face. She knew that Cana was right, which only made her feel worse.

Without warning, the ground began to shake violently. Parts of the roof and wall chipped off of the Guild Hall and fell to the floor.

"Hey, what's going on?" Gray asked.

Nero wasn't familiar with the area, and his first thought was an earthquake, however, his gut said otherwise. Something was coming, and that was confirmed when he saw Alzack come rushing through the main doors into the Guild, a look of fear on his face, "OUTSIDE!"

Without a moment wasted, Nero, and the uninjured mages of Fairy Tail rushed towards the doors, however, they froze in their tracks at what the saw was the source of the shaking. Even Nero would admit, he felt a little concerned.

In Lake Sciliora was the Phantom Lord Headquarters sitting on a big chunk of rock, but sprouting out from the rock were eight giant bronze colored legs! The earth trembled under each step that the giant building on legs took as it approached the shoreline in front of Fairy Tail's Guild Hall.

"Honestly, I shouldn't be surprised anymore," muttered Nero to himself.

"What is that?!" Natsu exclaimed fearfully.

"It's a Guild Hall with ginormous legs!" Happy said.

"Is it Phantom?" Loke stammered.

Nero almost immediately recognized the building as Phantom's Headquarters, the same building that Lucy had jumped out of. Only this time, it was mobile!

Everyone's eyes were bulging out whilst their jaws hung low, their bodies frozen on the spot. Even Erza, who was in her Heart Kreuz armor, was shaking in fear, "I did not anticipate this. I did not think they would go to such extreme lengths to attack us!"

Finally, the Phantom Headquarters took one more giant step before it came to a halt. The building remained motionless for a short moment until a hatchway at the front lowered, allowing a long metal barrel to steadily extend out from the hatch.

Suddenly, dark blue energy became to swirl and coalesce around the end of the cannon's barrel, growing more intense by the second. Nero narrowed his eyes as he clenched Devil Bringer, he knew a weaponwhen he saw one, and that was one of the largest he had ever seen. And he had been in enough fights with demons to know when one was charging up to fire a massive beam right at him. If it was like what Dante described the Savior had, it wouldn't just destroy Fairy Tail, but all of Magnolia with it.

Without a word, Nero began to walk right towards the edge of the cliff, he knew what he had to do. He didn't have the time or really the patience to explain his plan. What he did know is that this might be his only shot. He knew the sword was powerful, but he didn't know how powerful, but it's not like he had much choice.

"Nero!" Erza cried.

"Are you crazy?!" Cana shouted.

"Don't be stupid!" Macao yelled, "You can't stop that thing!"

"I've been called a lot of things," Replied Nero, "reckless, being the most common. But right now, that doesn't matter, what does matter, is that I try."

"Dude you're insane!" Shouted Gray, "you're just one person!"

"But I've got something to get off my chest; a secret," Replied Nero ominously as he reached for his glove, and began to take it off, catching the interest of everyone, "I figured that if kept my secret, I'd be sparring you all some confusion. But right now, to hell with that secret."

Nero's glove fell to the ground as he came to a stop at the edge, the wind causing his coat to flap slightly.

"Remember when we first met, I refused to use my right hand?" Recalled Nero.

"What are you doing!" Shouted Natsu, "get out of the way!"

"Well, I had a reason, because I didn't know how you'd react to the truth," continued Nero as grasped the right cuff of his coat and began to roll it up, "because I'm not just a person."

Upon rolling his sleeve up to what he wanted, Nero let his arm fall, and everyone in Fairy Tail hawk at what they saw: a demonic appendage that was in the place of his right arm, Devil Bringer.

 **"I'm a demon,"** Stated Nero, his voice altering dramatically, as energy flowed across his body, his hair wafting in the breeze, **"and this demon is done running."**

An orb began to collect in the palm of Devil Bringer before it began to extend. It continued to to extend more and more until it flashed and solidified into an object . But not just any object, a sword, a katana to be specific. The Yamato. It was beautiful, even to some wizards who had never held a sword in their lives.

However, at the same time, a figure appeared behind Nero, something that had their jaws dropped further whilst their eyes widened in astonishment and disbelief. The specter that accompanied Nero whenever he was in his Devil Trigger. Now all bets where off.

The wizards outside continued to look up at the specter in awe. A few of them were even shaking in fear. Unexpectedly, Gray fainted and fell backwards.

"Holy moly!" Happy cried, in shock, "Nero can do that?!"

"I-It looks so," Loke stuttered.

"Whoa! Why didn't he ever say he was a Demon?! And why didn't he say he could do _that_?!" Demanded Cana.

"He-he's so powerful!" Natsu stammered, feeling the energy roll off his friend in waves

Erza said nothing; not that she could, she was incapable of saying anything at the moment. She gazed at the being standing before the Guild. Her body was trembling ever so slightly as she stood frozen in shock.

Nero narrowed his eyes at the eight-legged building standing at least half a mile away. Black lightning rippled across the energy ball collecting at the end of the barrel. Finally, with an earthshaking boom, a powerful bluish-black beam fired out from the cannon.

In response, Nero twirled Yamato around into a reverse grip, the Specter copying his movements perfectly. Poised behind him, the blade began to glow blue, flames danced across the edge, the Specter holding its own, Yamato in a similar fashion. The demon hunter was drawing every single bit of power he could muster. Everything, he needed as much power as he could get.

'Power,' echoed a familiar voice in Nero's head, but went on ignored. He had to focus. Finally enough energy had been focused into Yamato, the blade dancing with energy. Without wasting a moment, Nero swung the sword up, the Specter following suit, a massive wave of demonic power rushed towards the blast of magic.

As a result, the wave cleaved the beam in half, going right down the middle, slowly, but steadily making its way towards the source.

The Fairy Tail wizards watched in awe as Nero's attack, slowly, but surely made its way to the Jupiter cannon. It was like watching a hot knife cut through butter. Suddenly, Phantom's energy beam disappeared, letting Nero's slash barrel right towards the guild, and collided with the barrel of the cannon. Phantom's Headquarters shook from the blast, but the arachnid-like legs underneath kept it stable.

When the smoke and ocean vapors cleared, the cannon was scorched and cracked in various places. Nero huffed and puffed, but was inwardly relieved that he held off the attack. Partially glad that the guild wasn't destroyed, but a little pissed that his attack didn't do sufficient damage to the Jupiter Cannon.

Turning away from the Guild, Nero began to make his way towards Fairy Tail, albeit, his steps shaky and nearly stumbled a few times, the Specter vanished in a flash of energy, but Yamato remained in Nero's grip.

The wizards of Fairy Tail stared at the Demon Hunter with shocked dumbfounded expressions.

"Whoa," Macao gapped, "He actually stopped it."

"No kidding," Cana said.

"So he's actually a demon," Alzack added.

Natsu, Erza, and Gray approached Nero, the latter just regaining consciousness after he had fainted. The trio was still in shock over what they had just witnessed their new teammate do. Who could blame them?

"That...was quite the display," Erza muttered.

"I'll say!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly, "That was awesome!"

"Yeah…" Gray said, and then shouted, "But why didn't you tell us you were a demon?!"

"I had just met you guys and I didn't know how demons were viewed here," answered Nero calmly, "and for the record, I'm part demon, one quarter demon, the rest human."

Suddenly, before anyone else could comment, the voice of Jose echoed out from a PA system at Phantom Headquarters.

 _"Impressive display of power,"_ Jose praised. If he had been shocked over seeing Yamato, he was hiding it well, _"I'll admit I'm impressed. A shame you joined a guild full of weaklings, mister Demon Slayer wizard. What a waste of potential."_

Nero only snorted in disdain as well as anger for the way he was talking down to his friends. _'Wonder of Dante would've been pissed if I blew up the whole thing instead,'_ Thought the hunter.

 _"But it doesn't matter. Makarov has fallen and even you don't have the power to stop me. Surrender Lucy Heartfilia immediately or I'll have no choice but to kill you all,"_ Jose proclaimed conceitedly.

"Is this guy dense or something?" Muttered Nero to himself. He just overpowered his strongest weapon with a single swing of his sword and he thought they had no chance? Guys got the arrogance to match a demon.

"That's not gonna happen!" Alzack yelled.

"Like any Guild would hand over one of their own to a monster like you!" Bisca added.

"You hear that!?" Macao shouted, "Lucy's staying put!"

The other Fairy Tail mages spectating in the back agreed and began to rally.

 _"I won't ask again!"_ Jose said, his voice seething with rage.

Lucy stood still, her head hung low in a crestfallen matter. She started to cry once more. Everything that was happening was her fault, "Maybe I should just go with them? Give myself up," She whimpered.

"We would never betray her like that!" Erza roared, "You'd have to kill us first!"

The other Guild members yelled in agreement. Lucy's head perked up in shock.

"You can stop asking now cause we're not gonna give you any other answer!" Natsu shouted in fury, "We're taking every one of you jerks down!"

"Besides, if you think we'd just give up on our friend like that, then you fuckers got another thing coming!" Agreed Nero, as he swung out Yamato, dismissing it in a flash of energy before pulling out Red Queen and pointed it at the Phantom Lord Guild.

All the Fairy Tail mages began to roar in agreement. Their answer was final. They would never hand over Lucy, and they certainly weren't going out without a fight. Meanwhile, Lucy sobbed and placed a hand over her mouth. Her heart was touched by her Guild sticking up for her, willing to give up their lives for her.

 _"IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT THEN I'LL GIVE YOU A SECOND HELPING OF JUPITER!"_ Jose bellowed through the speakers, _"You've got fifteen minutes to hand her over or you can consider yourselves all dead!"_

"No way," Elfman gapped.

"What are we gonna do?" Cana asked.

"They're gonna fire at us again?" Loke stuttered.

Without warning, hordes of black phantoms flew out from the building and swarmed toward Fairy Tail.

 _"You're in quite a quandary, aren't yah Fairy Tail?"_ the master of Phantom Lord mocked, _"There are only two ways this situation can play out. My troops will tear you apart or you'll be blown away by Jupiter!"_

"Or we could use option three; knock you and your guild down a few pegs," retorted Nero.

"Are you kidding me?!" Macao yelled. "If he fires at us he'll be killing his own men!"

"Who would do something like that?" Wakaba added.

"No, he's gonna do it," Cana remarked, which made Macao and Wakaba's jaws drop, "Those Phantom soldiers are creations of Jose's Shade Magic. They're not human so it won't matter if they're destroyed."

"Doesn't make him any better," Snarled Nero, "just makes him more like a demon to me."

His comment went on ignored as Cana said, "We gotta do something to take out that Jupiter Cannon."

Natsu punched his open palm and stated, "I'm gonna smash that thing to pieces! I've got fifteen minutes to wreck it, right?"

Cana nodded.

Natsu smirked, that was all he needed to know. He then broke off into a sprint, "C'mon Happy!"

"Aye sir," Happy said as he picked up Natsu and flew him towards Phantom's Headquarters.

"We just gonna stand here all day?" Asked Nero sarcastically, glancing back at Gray and Elfman, "or are we gonna storm the castle?"

"Alright!" Elfman fist-pumped.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Gray added eagerly.

"I shall lead the defense out here," Erza proclaimed.

The trio nodded and then broke off into a sprint toward Phantom Lord Guild. Spinning around, Nero sent Spectral Bringer at Gray and Elfman and caught them both. Spinning around, he hurled them right towards the castle. The demon hunter leaped right after them.

Erza, meanwhile, stood tall and firm in front of the others and watched as the group flew into enemy territory.

"Be safe," She whispered.

She then turned her gaze to the hordes of ebony phantom troops that were swarming toward the Guild. A pair of magical swords appeared in Erza's hands as she got into a battle stance.

"We will not let those things destroy our Guild Hall!" Titania shouted, "Fight for Lucy, for Master Makarov, for our Guild!"

The wizards of Fairy Tail all roared in response.

The first phantom at the head of the attack, Erza slashed through it. It disappeared in a black haze. The final battle against Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord had begun!

 ** _To be continued ..._**

 ** _Okay, there are wanna a few things to address. First off, that slash attack Nero performed was not the Maximum Bet move Nero possesses in his move set, this is the new technique I talked about. It's similar to Dante's Drive attack, before some of start commenting that Nero doesn't have the ability to do that, outside his Devil Trigger, this is taking two years after Fortuna, so at this point he's had some practice with Yamato. Also, several cutscenes show Nero cracking a sort of Drive wave with Yamato, though wasn't used explicitly in the game. And if you're wondering, Nero got this power to create a Drive when he absorbed a portion of Gajeel's power. So it's not completely unreasonable. This chapter might be a little shorter, but for good reason. I want to keep most of the action in other chapters, and just have moments where things can cool down a little._**

 ** _Also, I'm posting a poll shortly after this chapter goes up. It has to do with a future chapter, one that involves Nero fighting against Erza in a duel. And I want to know who you all think will win. Will it be Nero, Erza, or will it be a tie?_**


	12. Chapter 12 Phantom Lord Part 3

_**Okay, chapter 12. The battle picks up as Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail clash in their own war. And the latter has an advantage in the form of the demon hunter, Nero.**_

 _ **Just a quick heads up, I have taken a look at the poll and many people believe that Nero would win.**_

 _ **The current results are**_

 _ **Nero: 12**_

 _ **Erza: 1**_

 _ **Draw: 1**_

 _ **Things are heavily in favor of Nero. And while I do feel obligated to adhere to the people and their decision, a part of me wants to know how and why. I know a good amount of Erza's feats, thanks to Screwattack's Death Battle, but I don't know a ton about Nero's feats as in strength and speed. I've seen every cutscene in the DMC4 game, but they're not the best to get accurate measurements. So, to get good answers, feel free to send me a private message with an explanation on how and why Nero or Erza would win in a fight. I don't want to be a stereotypical author and have the main protagonist win just because, I want it to be a close fight.**_

 _ **Also, if you have any ideas on future chapters, or ideas on what Lesser demons should appear, regardless of which game they are from, don't hesitate to leave an idea.**_

 _ **On another note, I skipped some parts of the Phantom Lord Arc for this chapter because I'm lazy and figured they didn't hold enough significance to the story, or at least enough for me to write about. So while it may look like I'm just copying Ultimate10's work, I am not. I'm just lazy and figured I'd cut out parts I think are not important.**_

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own Devil May Cry or Fairy Tail._**

* * *

 _ **Devil Tail**_

 **Chapter 12: Phantom Lord Part 3**

Battles are sometimes won with careful planning, a steady hand, and strategic positioning. It can be a game, as simple but worthy of great minds like chess, precise moves, a careful eye, being ten steps ahead of your opponent, and keeping your goal in mind. However, sometimes a battle is won with a cruder and rather blunter weapon.

And Natsu Dragneel was taking the blunter and simpler route to achieve victory by destroying Phantom Lord's Jupiter Cannon, starting at the barrel. Having punched the steel construct for about ten minutes, the Dragon Slayer wasn't making any progress. He even tried continuing the damage down by Yamato, attempting to spread the cracks and further weaken the cannon.

He made no difference in it.

"Crap!" snapped Natsu in anger, seeing that his work was fruitless, "I'm barely scratching the surface!"

"I guess we're just gonna have to destroy it from the inside, huh?" Happy suggested.

Natsu ceased his hitting as his face brightened in realization. He looked back at Happy and smiled, "Good idea, Happy!"

The Dragon Slayer and flying cat approached the end of the cannon and swung themselves over into the barrel.

"Alright, let's do this!" Natsu said.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

The duo ran down the dark, grooved tunnel toward the bright light at the end. When they reached the other end, they were in a massive room. In the center was a huge, glass sphere with a grayish tint. Circled around it on the walls were four smaller red, blue, yellow, and green spheres. Situated on the ceiling was a big clock with Roman numeral numbers.

The minute hand on the clock moved, then a voice rang out, _'Eleven minutes until Jupiter fires,'_ Announced the synthesized female voice said over the PA.

"They must be using that magic lacrima to collect magical energy," Happy realized.

"Yeah," Natsu said, "but why do they need one as big as that?"

"Cause Magical Focusing Cannons don't fire regular ammunition," the cat answered, "instead they fire concentrated magical power."

"I didn't get most of that," The pink haired mage confessed, "But all we have to do is destroy that thing, don't we?"

"I can't allow that," A voice replied, interjecting on the Drago Slayer's and cat's conversation.

The two looked around before they looked down to see a young man with his black and white hair stylized in a Japanese-styled top knot. He wore a reddish-orange coat with red fur around his collar, black pants, and black boots. Strapped to the black belt on his waist was a katana. This was Totomaru, one of the Element 4.

"Is he a guard?" Happy inquired.

"Doesn't matter!" yelled Natsu as he leaped at Totomaru, his fists covered in flames, "Anyone who gets in my way is going down!"

However, the man remained unfazed by the Dragon Slayer's advanced, holding his superior smile, "I don't think so," was all he said.

"I don't care what you think!" shouted Natsu, his anger rising, "Get out of my way!"

Halfway between the two, something completely unexpected happened. Caught off guard, Natsu was struck by a fiery fist. But here's the catch: the fist that hit him was _his_ fist.

"Natsu! Why'd you hit yourself?" admonished Happy, but was still very confused. Was Natsu seriously getting into a fight with himself?

"I didn't! My fist just went crazy!" he replied, still taken by surprise as confusion filled his words.

Gaining control over himself, whilst still in the air, Natsu landed back down onto his feet, completely unharmed, excluding the punch he inflicted on himself. As the Dragon Slayer righted himself, he leveled an angered glare at the ninja-like man.

"It seems to me that you are getting in your own way," taunted Totomaru, knowing exactly what was happening. He wasn't about to let the Dragon Slayer know what that is, at least, not right now.

Natsu just continued to stare at Totomaru, if he was analyzing him or just glaring at him for the taunting, it wasn't clear. But what was, was the clock's arm shifting again, catching the Fire Dragon Slayer's attention.

 _'Ten minutes until Jupiter fires,'_ announced the feminie voice over the P.A. system.

Natsu narrowed his eyes as he gritted his teeth. He was running out time, and it looked like this guy was just stalling him. Turning back to Totomaru, he glared at the man, "Move it buddy!" he demanded, "I gotta cannon to demolish!"

"All you have to do is shatter the giant lacrima and it won't be able to fire anymore," supplied Happy, giving Natsu a target to break.

"You can certainly try," Totomaru said, expression unchanged from when he ran into the Dragon Slayer, but his tone held a serious underlay, "But I won't let you."

Natsu's fists were shrouded by fire, his ferocity growing stronger.

"I'm running out of time!" snapped the Fire Mage, now fed up with this guy, "Shut up and let me do my thing!" Natsu crouched low and jumped into the air, his flaming left fist cocked back.

Totomaru, just smirked maliciously when he saw the flames. The Dragon Slayer was as dense as he was weak. As Natsu charged towards him, Fire Mage suddenly punched himself again with his own blazing fist, this time, the blow sent him flying back to the side of the chamber. Seeing his friend go down, Happy flew over to him in concern.

"You okay?" asked the feline.

"Yeah...I did it again," answered Natsu as he rose to his feet, but held the spot where he punched himself, "What was that?"

"We don't have time! Forget about this guy!" Happy exclaimed, waving his paws around frantically, "It's the cannon! We have to break it right now!"

However, the flying cat's pleas fell on deaf ears, or Natsu just seemed to ignore him as he held his glare right at Totomaru, "I'll show you!" growled the Dragon Slayer as he charged right towards the Phantom Lord Mage.

"Hey!" shouted Happy, indignantly, "Did you hear what I just said?!"

While the blue cat went on ignored as Natsu charged right towards Totomaru, the Mage only stood still as the pink haired wizard closed the gap between them. But suddenly, between the two, a reddish-orange magical circle appeared directly in front of Natsu. Resulting in the flames around Natsu's hands beginning to make him spin around. The spinning motion caused him to be thrown off course and into a wall.

"I am Totomaru," stated the Phantom Mage, feeling it was now time to let the Dragon Slayer in on his secret, "and I have complete control over the element of fire."

"Wait," Natsu growled as he picked himself back up, looking right at the aforementioned wizard, "I bet you're one of those whatcha'ma call it five guys, right?"

"Geez, Natsu! They're called the Element 4," reprimanded Happy, looking indignantly at the Dragon Slayer, "How could you not even get the number part right?"

"Yes," confirmed Totomaru, acknowledging the cat and mage, "and any form of fire is my plaything to do with as I please."

"Yo gotta be kidding me," muttered Natsu. This put him at a pretty big disadvantage, seeing that all of his magic was centered around fire. Essentially, his biggest tool was turned around on him.

"It doesn't matter if it is natural or magical," continued the Phantom Lord Mage, as he held out his hands in a mocking manner, "all fire will bend to _my_ will alone."

"Hate to break it yah," interjected Natsu, leveling a glare at Motomaru, "but you're not controlling mine!"

Totomaru smirked. "This isn't going to go well for you my dear fire wizard."

All of a sudden, the colored lacrima balls on the walls began to illuminate brightly as magic power collected inside of them. Then, magical energy flowed out from the smaller spheres and into the much larger one in the center of the room.

Natsu gasped while Totomaru only chuckled.

"Oh no! It's starting to activate again!" Happy cried, actually afraid now, they had less time and Natsu was too busy with trying to prove that he was better than Motomaru.

 _'Five minutes until Jupiter fires,'_ announced the PA system in a monotone voice.

"Hurry Natsu!" the flying cat shouted. "The Jupiter Cannon is almost ready to fire again!"

"Yeah, I know," Natsu replied, cracking his fists.

"It's too late," Totomaru said. Then, another reddish-orange magic circle appeared in front of him, **"Blue Fire!"**

A blast of blue flames discharged from Totomaru's magic circle straight toward Natsu. The Dragon Slayer wasn't worried in the slightest. He opened his mouth and breathed in deeply. The azure flames from the Phantom mage's attack were sucked up into Natsu's mouth.

"Whoa! That was cold going down. I've never tasted fire like that before." The pink haired wizard noted.

"So it's you," Totomaru crossed his arms over his chest, "Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer. This isn't going to work out well for either of us, is it?"

Natsu cocked a brow in confusion, "Huh?"

"Because we're both impervious to fire attacks," explained Totomaru.

"I haven't even hit you yet! How do you know my fire won't hurt yah?" Natsu yelled in ire.

"Go ahead and give it your best shot, but you won't be able to hit me," he stated.

In response, Natsu slammed his fists together and summoned a fiery magic circle, "We'll see about that! **Fire Dragon…"**

Totomaru immediately brought up a magic circle to defend himself, "I already told you I can control the element of fire!"

However, it was he who got surprised when Natsu finished his proclamation.

"…Spit!"

Without warning, Salamander launched a stream of spit at Totomaru. The Phantom wizard groaned in annoyance as Natsu's spit raced down his face.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Natsu cackled mischievously, "I got you good!"

 _'Two minutes until Jupiter fires.'_ announced the PA system, reminding Natsu and Happy what they were supposed to be doing.

"Natsu, you gotta hurry! We're running out of time!" Happy shouted as he flew around Natsu frantically, trying to get the Dragon Slayer to take out the crystal.

"That was a really stupid move," Totomaru remarked angrily, "You think that this is a game?!" He summoned another magic circle, **"Orange Fire!"**

An inferno of orange colored flames blasted out from Totomaru's magic circle and headed straight for Natsu. But like before, the Dragon Slayer stood tall with a toothy smirk on his face, "You call that an attack? Well, I call it dinner!"

Again, Natsu inhaled the fire; however, unlike before, this fire tasted very gross, "UGH…nasty!" Salamander cried out as he rolled across the floor, rubbing his tongue to get the taste of that horrendous fire out of his mouth.

Totomaru, in response, laughed in amusement, "Tastes like a rag soaked in spoiled milk, doesn't it?" he taunted.

Natsu stood up and got face-to-face with Totomaru, his eyes burning with indignation, "That was a dirty trick!" he growled.

"And a face full of spit isn't?" Totomaru retorted.

 _'One minute until Jupiter fires,'_ spoke the automated voice, easily catching of Happy who began panicking even more.

"C'mon, Natsu!" cried Happy as the cat grabbed the side of Natsu's face and tried pulling him to the crystal, "You gotta hurry!"

"Let go!" Natsu shouted as he charged at Totomaru again. He threw a right hook and a powerful kick at his opponent, but Totomaru was quick to dodge each attack.

"So you wanna fight without using magic?" The fire-controlling mage leaped back and landed on top of a huge apparatus of cogs on that side of the room, "Well that's fine by me! My katana is ready!"

In a blur, he appeared right in front of Natsu and slashed his blade at him. The Dragon Slayer was quick to jump back and dodge the attack. Totomaru appeared in front of him again and swiped the blade at him, but Natsu leaped into the air to perform a backflip.

Totomaru was wise to this as he crouched low and jumped up at Natsu, his blade reared back for an attack. However, he was unprepared when Natsu kicked his sword out of his hand. The katana went flying upward and struck the main lacrima ball, cracks forming around the blade as it embedded itself into the sphere.

Natsu smirked whilst Totomaru only frowned.

"You think you're so smooth. A little ding like that won't destroy a giant lacrima," Totomaru pointed out.

"Maybe not but now that you're sword-less, which means I got the upper hand!" Natsu countered. He ignited his fists with fire and charged at his enemy. He launched a right and left hook but Totomaru dodged or sidestepped each attack.

Totomaru vanished and appeared behind Natsu, "How many times do I have to tell you that won't work?" he said in annoyance, holding up his middle and index finger. As a result, Natsu punched himself in the face with his flaming fist.

Natsu growled, and then exhaled a torrent of fire at Totomaru, which shocked him. The fire-controlling mage stepped back with a few minor burns, _'How did he do that?' He thought. 'He expanded the range of his fire powers so that it would hit me.'_

* * *

 _ **Fairy Tail Guild, Courtyard**_

If Natsu thought he was having a hard time, well, he was because, within the courtyard of Fairy Tail, its wizards were drawing out their onslaught against the phantom soldiers that were created by Jose. Easy to destroy, but if they came into direct contact with you, for even a second, the soldier could weaken your life force.

However, a large majority of Fairy Tail had been rendered unable to fight because of a few phantom soldiers getting a hold of them. Even then, there was still a decent faction left behind, which wouldn't be around if it wasn't for Erza leading them. The Fairy Queen had made things far easier for those that still fought.

In her Heaven's Wheel armor, Erza used her Re-Quip magic to summon this powerful armor. Sporting silver chest plate armor, a metal flower placed in the center, a skirt that billowed fully that came with metal plating around her hips, and large metal wings that looked to be made of individual blades.

Erza flew into the air and summoned multiple blades around her, "Dance, my blades!" She yelled. Suddenly, the swords began to spin around her at rapid speeds, **"Circle Sword!"**

The blades formed a disc formation and launched forward, slicing many phantoms at once as they dissipated into nothingness. Erza descended and gently landed back on the ground.

"Nice job, Erza," Macao commented, his hands covered in bluish-purple fire.

Before she could respond though, her attention was then grabbed by the priming of the Jupiter Cannon. Bluish-black energy was already beginning to coalesce around the end of the barrel.

"This isn't looking good," Loke noted.

"Why's he taking so long?!" Wakaba shouted.

 _'C'mon boys,'_ Erza thought, _'you must hurry. Don't let me down.'_

* * *

 _ **Phantom Lord Guild HQ, Jupiter Cannon combustion chamber**_

"OH NO!" screamed Happy in terror, "We're dead meat! It's gonna fire again!"

Natsu growled, the anger within him coursing to the boiling level. He let out a yell as the fire in his hands grew bigger and more intense.

Totomaru only sneered, "Think you're gonna blast me again? Not gonna happen!" He got in a stance and summoned a magic circle, "I'll keep my distance and control your fire from here!"

Natsu yelled louder as he held up his arms in a power-up fashion. His flames were becoming hotter and more powerful, swirling above him like a hurricane.

"What the?" Totomaru remarked, his eyes furrowing from confusion, "I can't get it to move. It won't even budge."

Suddenly, the fire surrounding Natsu became so bright that Totomaru was forced to back up and look away. The Phantom mage looked on in disbelief, shocked that Natsu had somehow blocked his control.

"This is my fire!" Natsu bellowed, "And I won't let you mess with it!"

The Dragon Slayer shot his gathered flames forward. Totomaru leaped to the side to avoid the tendril of flames.

He grinned, "Ha! Your attack is no good if you can't hit your target."

The fire tendril morphed into a flaming fist, which caused Totomaru's jaw to drop. "OH CRAP!"

"Whoever said you were my target?" Natsu retorted.

The fiery fist slammed into the handle of the katana stuck in the lacrima. The strength behind the blow buried it deeper. As a result, a volley of cracks manifested from the blade and grew around the lacrima ball, causing the collective energy inside to become unstable.

* * *

 _ **Fairy Tail Guild Courtyard**_

Back at the courtyard, the wizards of Fairy Tail were busy holding off the endless wave of phantom soldiers, but when a massive explosion broke through the sounds of battle, they all turned to the source. The Jupiter Cannon had ignited in a black-blue fireball, obliterating the cannon barrel as fire and debris went flying. Seeing the weapon destroyed, the collected wizards began to cheer from the sight of the super weapon's destruction.

"Hey!" Bisca said, "Check it out! They blew it up!"

"Yeah they did," Alzack commented, "The Jupiter Cannon's been destroyed just in time."

Erza smiled proudly, _'Great work, boys.'_

But as soon as the feeling of pride came, it vanished in a split second as Erza gasped when a cold chill raced down her spine. She didn't know what the cause was, but she had a feeling that something bad was going to happen.

* * *

 _ **Phantom Lord Guild HQ, Jupiter Cannon combustion chamber ruins**_

Back in the combustion chamber, or whatever was left of it, smoke was pouring out through the cracks and holes in the wall. The floor had trails of smoke coming from it, thanks to the fireball, and hundreds of pieces of debris littered the floor. Natsu and Happy were on the floor, looking up at Totomaru, the latter standing on top of a cog that was likely used to deploy the cannon, or aim it.

"Hey, buddy!" Natsu called out, "Someone told me something about Fire Magic that you should know. You can never control fire if your heart isn't in it."

 _'I get it,'_ Happy thought. _'He had to have the time to figure out Totomaru's fire control or he wouldn't have been able to destroy the cannon. Now I kinda feel bad for rushing him like that.'_

Natsu ignited his fists on fire once more, "I've had enough of you messing with my magic. Play with my fire and you're bound to get burned! You got me?!"

Totomaru clenched his fists and scowled at the Dragon Slayer. Before he could remark, however, he lost his balance as the building shook violently. All of a sudden, Phantom's Headquarters began to break apart and reassemble. In the room with Natsu, Happy, and Totomaru, the floor was tilting at a steep angle.

"Hey now, what the heck is going on?!" Natsu shouted.

"The whole building is tilting!" added Happy.

"He's awakening it right now?!" Totomaru said incredulously, "But there's no horizontal stabilization in here!"

Natsu blinked, "Stabilia-what?"

The building shook again, throwing the trio off balance and onto the floor. Totomaru quickly stood up though and grinned wickedly at Natsu.

"You Fairy Tail-ers are through!" He proclaimed, "Phantom's Giant will slaughter you!"

* * *

 _ **Phantom Lord Guild, fourth-floor balcony**_

Gray and Elfman's cries could be heard as they crash-landed on the balcony. The former crashing into the wall while the latter collided with the railing, just managing to grab hold in order to avoid falling off. A second later, Nero landed comfortably on his feet, Red Queen unsheathed, but the hunter let it rest on his shoulder. The trio was a little late getting to the attacking guild's HQ, due to landing short because of Nero not throwing them far enough and a platoon of phantom soldiers that attacked them.

After dealing with the soldiers, Nero threw the two the rest of the way to the guild, breaking through the defensive circle of soldiers around Phantom Lord. Safe to say, that both wizards didn't exactly like the hunter that much when he threw them without any warning.

"You could have warned us!" snapped Gray, pulling himself over the railing and glared at the demon hunter in annoyance.

"Quit complaining, we're here," retorted Nero, "besides, the cannon's down."

That was something they were all grateful for. Natsu had managed to take out the Jupiter cannon.

 _'Just barely,'_ thought Nero in amusement.

However, the hunter and wizards were taken by surprise when the guild HQ began to shake violently. Elfman and Gray stumbled as they tried to regain their balance while Nero didn't stumble at all. Looking around, the hunter went over to the railing to see a part of the massive castle break off and moved to another part.

"What the hell is going on?" demanded Nero, looking around.

"No way," Elfman breathed, "they're awakening the Giant."

"Not good," Gray added uneasily.

"You guys care to fill me in?" asked Nero incredulously, getting the attention of the two, "what the hell is _'the giant'_?"

"It's Phantom's ultimate weapon. They're transforming their headquarters into a giant warrior," Elfman responded, his tone was dire.

"Great, another Savior," muttered Nero, coming up with a quick comparison. The idea of dealing with another giant warrior didn't sound all to fun, he suspected that the Giant wasn't as powerful as the savior, "well, standing around here isn't accomplishing anything, so let's find Natsu. The cannon's chamber should be that way, assuming it's still in one piece."

Both Gray and Elfman nodded, however, they made the mental note to ask what _'Savior_ Nero was talking about. The trio made their way deeper into HQ, passing through a door and down a hallway.

* * *

 _ **Fairy Tail Guild, Courtyard**_

In the courtyard of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, the wizards all looked up in shock and horror. If they were stupefied when Nero revealed that not only was he a demon, he had a weapon that could overpower the Jupiter, they were now blown away as the structure of Phantom Lord HQ shifted into an enormous, stone robot with broad spiked shoulders and a horned head. Countless numbers of phantom troops flew around the giant rocky robot in a ring formation.

This was Phantom Lord's ultimate weapon, the Super Mage Giant Phantom MK II.

"No way," Cana said weakly, "you've got to be kidding me."

"The Giant," Erza said stoically; however, deep down she was far from fearless, she was terrified over this development, "Phantom's most powerful weapon,"

Titania was wondering if this was the cause of the chill she felt earlier.

"Kneel before me you brats!" Jose demanded over the PA system, "Or you will fall victim to my wrath. Savor your last moments because I will soon end your pathetic lives,"

Erza glared at the giant stone warrior. A moment later, the ring of phantom soldiers all changed course and turned their targets to the Fairy Tail mages. As the black ghost-like beings swarmed toward Fairy Tail, the Giant Phantom began to slowly step closer toward the Guild Hall.

"A Giant and ghosts," Bisca said disbelievingly, "How are we supposed to handle this?"

Erza, who was still in her Heaven's Wheel armor, held up both swords in her hands and prepared for another fight, "Just focus on these phantoms for now! We'll let Natsu, Nero, Gray, and Elfman handle the Giant!"

"Sure," Wakaba replied, "the last three can handle it. But what about Natsu's…"

"Motion sickness," Macao finished.

After that statement, everyone groaned in exasperation as their faces paled considerably.

* * *

 _ **Phantom Lord Guild, Jupiter Cannon combustion chamber**_

In the wreckage of the cannon room, Natsu was lying on his stomach, dizzy and motion-sick. He looked ready to vomit any second. Happy was by his side, nudging him to get up.

"C'mon Natsu!" Happy yelled, "You gotta get up!"

Totomaru quickly appeared above a pile of rocks a few meters away from the duo, "What's the matter?" he joked, "You get motion sickness? Looks like you can't eat fire now, can you?"

Totomaru then held out his middle and index fingers and crossed his arms in front of him, "Well then, time for me to finish you off!" He yelled just as a rust colored magic circle appeared in front of him.

Happy gasped in fear, "Natsu!"

"Prepare to die, Dragon Slayer!" Totomaru bellowed; however before he could fire his attack, ice crystals began to form around his hands and arms, jutting out in every direction, "What?! NO! What's happening to me?"

"You're not a man!" Elfman stated. He then swiftly charged forward and punched Totomaru with his beast arm, which sent him straight through a hole in the roof, "You're a backward shooting snowflake!"

"That makes no sense!" Totomaru remarked as he disappeared out of sight.

Nero sliced through a wall with Red Queen at the same time Elfman had finished his sentence, and could only look at the man in amusement, and a little confusion, "Remind me not to get into a name-calling match with you," remarked the demon hunter jokingly as he sheathed Red Queen and went over to Natsu. Holding out his left hand, he helped the Dragon Slayer to his feet.

"Thanks you guys," thanked Natsu, looking at his friends.

"What's your deal, Natsu?" Gray inquired, crossing his arms over his chest, "That was just sad."

"If you were a real man you'd make the Giant motion-sick of you," Elfman declared.

"Lay off," interjected Nero, cocking an eyebrow as he looked at both Fairy Tail mages, "guy just demolished Phantom's cannon, and your busting his ass over motion sickness?"

Gray shrugged in response. "So," the ice mage said, "is this all that's left of the Jupiter Cannon?"

"Aye," Happy replied.

"Hmph, then you did good," Gray conceded.

"Brought it down to the wire though," reminded Nero, recalling just how close the cannon was to firing.

"Hmm, it must've stopped moving because I feel better now," realized Natsu, feeling his motion sickness leave all of a sudden.

"I'll fly outside and see what's happening," Happy offered.

* * *

 _ **Fairy Tail Guild, Courtyard**_

As Erza and her felGuildmatesates battled against the hordes of shades, they noticed that one of the arms of the Giant Phantom was moving in a pattern.

"Hey look," Alzack pointed out, "what's that?"

"It's…drawing something," Bisca answered.

"A magic circle!" a purple haired girl named Laki, exclaimed.

Erza, still in her Heaven Wheel's armor, was flying in the air and slashed her blades against a couple of phantoms that tried to attack her, defeating them easily. She then turned to the Giant Phantom etching a magical circle into the air. Her brown eyes widened in horror as sweat dripped down her face. She recognized that spell.

"That's Abyss Break," She muttered apprehensively, "one of the forbidden spells. From the size of that magical circle, it could wipe out the entire city."

 _'If I had to guess, I would say we have ten minutes until the spell is completed,'_ Erza thought.

Suddenly, she felt a colder chill race up her spine. Erza was now beginning to inwardly debate whether she should assist the boys or not.

* * *

 _ **Phantom Lord, The Giant**_

In the meantime, Happy had flown back to Nero, Natsu, Elfman, and Gray and informed them of Phantom preparing to cast Abyss Break and explained what it was. They were shocked by this, but Nero, Elfman, and Gray managed to stay calm; Natsu, however, not so much.

"What do we do?!" Natsu yelled, "We gotta stop them!"

"And we'll do just that," spoke up Nero, a look of stoic determination on his face, "all magic has a power source; we find it, and destroy it. Splitting up will help us cover more ground and find it faster."

"Man," Elfman exasperated, "will we ever catch a break?"

"Wouldn't be as fun if we did," joked Nero, however, the attempt at making light of their situation vanished from his face, "but in all seriousness, no."

Determination formed over Natsu's face as he announced, "Come on guys! Let's do this!"

"Yeah," they said simultaneously.

"Let's go to work," added Nero, a savage grin on his face.

* * *

 _1 minute later..._

A minute later, gray storm clouds were forming over the Giant Phantom. Thunder rumbled through the air as it began to rain. Gray climbed through a broken window to get outside, hoping that it would make it easier to find the Abyss Break's power source.

When he felt the rain hit his body, he glanced up at the sky in confusion, "That's weird," He noted, "When did it start raining?"

"Drip, drip, drop," a monotonous feminine voice called.

Gray turned around to see a young woman with a curvaceous figure, blue hair that was curled at the base, dark blue eyes, and pale skin. She wore a navy blue coat, a fur shawl, and a hat that Nero would later find similar to that of a Russian Cossack. She was holding a pink umbrella with a white frilly trim at the base over her head as she walked toward Gray.

"Hello," she said, "My name is Juvia, and I am the Rain Woman of the Element 4. Drip, drip, drop."

Gray climbed out of the window and stood tall, glaring hard at the Phantom mage. "So you're one of them too, huh? Well then, bring it on."

"I must say, I'm quite impressed that your Guild was able to smack down two of the Elements," Juvia confessed stoically, "However, you must not underestimate the remaining two."

"Listen lady, if you're looking for a fight I'll give you one," Gray said in a deadly serious tone, "But let's get something straight. I'm not gonna hold back just because you're a chick."

A moment of silence passed while Gray and Juvia stared at each other. The tension could be cut with a knife. Unexpectedly, a hearty blush appeared on Juvia's pale face.

"Well then," She turned around and began to slowly walk away, "I give up. You win. Goodbye."

"HEY!" Gray shouted. His eyes were bulging out from shock and confusion, "Where are you going? Get back here and fight me!"

Juvia ignored him as she continued forward. Her hand was placed over her chest. Her breathing was becoming deeper and the blush on her face remained.

"There must be something wrong with me." Juvia said. "Why is my heart beating so fast?"

"Could you at least tell me how to stop the Giant?" Gray yelled as he ran toward her.

Juvia stopped in her tracks. Her dark blue eyes were twinkling with an emotion she had never felt before, "I can't explain why, but I have this strong urge to make him mine. I just can't help myself anymore," She held out her hand and chanted, **"Water Lock!"**

Without warning, Gray was instantly trapped inside a big ball of water. The onyx haired teen groaned in pain, an injury he had sustained in the fight with Phantom had been strained enough to remind him of its existence.

"Oh no!" Juvia cried in panic, "He's injured! I had no idea he was hurt! I don't know what to do! I guess I should probably release him."

Suddenly, Juvia was snapped out of her ranting as the ball of water she had trapped Gray in froze and then shattered into tiny, crystalline pieces. Gray landed on his feet, but he lowered himself to a knee to hold his aching side.

"He must be an ice wizard," Juvia realized, "He froze my Water Lock and broke free."

 _'I've never witnessed the power of ice magic, it's beautiful!'_ Juvia thought. Then, the water mage began to have dreamy visions of her and Gray together as lovers, _'I am water and he is ice. We must be bound by fate. I can't believe I've finally found my handsome prince.'_

Gray groaned as held his injured, bandaged torso, "You almost got me with that sneak attack you pulled," He admitted, "You're playing dirty."

Juvia held her beating heart and wailed happily, a perverted thought flowing into her mind.

Gray stripped off his white buttoned shirt, much to the embarrassment, shock, and pleasure of Juvia.

 _'He's taking off his clothes!'_ She cried inwardly, _'But I'm not ready for this, we just met! Wait, can't we take things slowly!?'_

Gray threw his shirt to the ground and stood defiantly, "I don't want to have to fight a girl, but I will if I have to," He stated, "So you better surrender; otherwise, I'll be forced to hurt yah!"

He put his right fist in his open left palm and held out his arms, which summoned a white magic circle in front of him, **"Ice Make: Lance!"**

A barrage of icy lances fired out from the magic circle straight toward Juvia. The rain woman, however, didn't attempt to dodge the projectiles at all; instead, they went straight through her! Instead of blood pouring out, her injured areas took the form of water and merged with the rest of her body and returned to normal.

Gray lightly gasped and stared at Juvia in bewilderment.

"My body is made entirely of water," the blue haired mage explained, "Surprise, drip, drip, drop."

His eyes widened further from shock.

"Yes," she mumbled in disappointment, "my love is also my enemy. We are on opposite sides of this war. I have no choice but to attack. It seems that this is farewell, my prince."

She held out her hand and summoned a blue magical circle, **"Water Slicer!"**

Three water whips shot out from her magic circle. But instead of striking Gray, they hit the top of a steel pillar. The top half was swiftly cut into tiny fragments, much to Gray's surprise.

"You see, given the right amount of force, water is strong enough to slice through steel." Juvia enlightened. "Underestimate its powers, and you'll find yourself in a world of pain."

In response, Gray growled in vexation, and then he chanted, **"Ice Make: Battle Axe!"**

Suddenly, a wave of ice erupted from Gray's magic circle and sliced Juvia in half. However, the water that comprised her body quickly connected back together.

"Can't you see that you're wasting your time?" Juvia said nonchalantly, "Your attacks have no effect on my body made of water. Drip, drip, drop."

Gray snarled, "Now what do I do?"

"It doesn't matter what you do, you cannot beat me," stated Juvia, "But there is one way you and your Guild may be spared. All we ask is that you hand over Miss Lucy Heartfilia. Do that and I'll ask our master to call off his attack on Fairy Tail."

"Ah c'mon, don't give me that crap!" the ice mage yelled, "You and I both know we're past the point of no return. Besides, Lucy is one of us. I'd rather give my life than hand her over to you."

At that statement, Juvia dropped her umbrella. One of her eyes was now twitching, _'He'd rather give his life, give his life, give his life?! Lucy is my rival! Lucy is my rival! He loves her!'_

All of a sudden, Juvia screamed loudly as she covered her face, "Oh the pain!" she sobbed miserably, "How can fate be so cruel? My heart feels like it's been torn to bits! It hurts, oh it hurts!"

"What's wrong?" Gray asked worriedly, "You feeling sick or something?"

Juvia ceased her crying. The sadness in her eyes was now replaced by rage and heartbreak. "She's not worthy of my prince," She muttered. Then, she roared out, "Lucy Heartfilia cannot be allowed to live!"

Gray only watched with a dumbfounded expression, a sweat drop falling down his face.

Without warning, Juvia shot out a blast of water at Gray. As he skidded back a few meters, he quickly took note that the water was hot.

"It burns?" Gray questioned. He turned his hard glare at the blue haired young woman, "What's your deal? What's your problem with Lucy?"

Juvia did not answer. She only fired another raging torrent of water at Gray. He swiftly leaped in the air to avoid the blow, but he was surprised by the speed in Juvia's attack.

"So fast," he murmured, "I don't know if my Maker-Magic can keep up."

The water torrent that Gray dodged came back and circled around Juvia before being blasted back at Gray again. The black haired mage leaped to the side; however, his shoes lost traction on the wet ground and caused him to slip toward the edge. Luckily, Gray was able to catch his balance just before he would've plummeted over.

"Whew, man that was close." He sighed in relief.

"Ever since the day I was born I've been followed by the rain." Juvia said. "It gives me strength. It makes me invincible."

She stopped and held up her arm, convening a magic circle above her. "Prepare to be scolded by my jealous rage!"

She fired a few streams of boiling water at Gray, but the ice mage skillfully jumped back to narrowly avoid the attacks.

"What are you jealous of?" He yelled in confusion.

He spread his legs to make a wide base before intonating, **"Ice Make: Shield!"**

A shield of ice instantly appeared in front of Gray, blocking Juvia's blow. However, the ice mage wasn't certain that the shield would hold up. The water in Juvia's attack was hotter than ever.

"Man, this water is boiling hot," Gray said, "I can't keep this up for long."

"Like I told you," Juvia responded angrily, "I am at my most powerful in the rain. You will never be able to defeat me."

Juvia continued shooting her hot water surge until steam shrouded Gray's form. When she heard a crash, she immediately stopped. The mist faded, Gray was gone. She sauntered toward the broken window upon which he had been previously standing.

"He used the steam as a smokescreen," She realized, "He's not just handsome, he's smart too."

A warm smile appeared on her face as she gazed into the broken glass, "I really am in love," She whispered.

Meanwhile, Gray was running down a hallway that had windows on both sides of the walls and even on the ceiling too.

"I can't waste any more time on this crazy water chick!" Gray shouted, "I gotta figure out how to stop the Giant."

All of a sudden, an inundation of hot water broke through a window on the ceiling, carrying Gray away.

"It's burning my skin!" he yelled when his head broke the water's surface for a moment.

The water gush blasted through a window in front of Juvia and threw Gray into the air.

"It's all over now!" she cried, shooting another water torrent at him.

Anger and determination crossed Gray's face as he turned around in midair, holding out his palms, "OH YEAH!" When his hands first made contact with the scolding water, it instantly began to freeze into a large rod of ice, "FREEZE UP!"

"No," Juvia said in disbelief, "it can't be!"

Suddenly, Juvia's body and the water around her immediately hardened into a large, spiked iceberg. Gray was about to smirk in victory until he noticed something. His left lower arm was trapped in the ice as well, and his hand had ended up grasping Juvia's left breast. This made him freak out.

"AHHH!" he screamed frantically, "It's not what it looks like! I didn't mean to!"

Gray pulled out his hand, which caused the ice entrapping Juvia to disappear, "SORRY!"

The young woman fell to her hands and knees. She looked up and gaze at Gray warmly. _'Even though I'm his enemy, he released me. He's such a nice guy!'_ she thought.

"Let's just start over, okay?" Gray offered, nervous sweat drops falling from his face.

Juvia stood up and replied, "Let's not. Honestly, I don't wanna hurt you so there's no point in us fighting anymore."

"Huh?" Gray said puzzlingly, "Is this your weird way of admitting that you can't beat me or something?"

"You know I'm much stronger than Lucy, if you let me, I would be happy to protect you," Juvia responded.

"Protect me?" he repeated, "From what?"

As they talked, the rain around them fell harder and in more volume, "Well, I…" she stumbled, "I think you're…uh…so…"

"Is it just me or is this rain getting worse?" Gray interrupted, glancing irately at the sky.

"Oh, this is so frustrating!" Juvia shouted.

However, her ranting went ignored by Gray as he continued to comment on the rain, "Man, it won't let up. This rain is so gloomy."

Juvia instantly froze, the word 'gloomy' echoing in her mind. She felt to her hands and knees, her fists clenched tightly. Gray looked back in concern.

"Uh…is something wrong?" he asked.

"I thought he was different, but he's just like all the rest," Juvia mumbled in ire and misery.

Suddenly, she stood right back up, water shrouding her enraged form, "HOW COULD YOU BE SO CRUEL?!"She bellowed.

"What's with you?" demanded Gray.

 _'I won't let my feelings be persuaded any longer!'_ the rain woman shouted inwardly.

Before Gray could react, a blast of hot water slammed into him. He was carried back a few meters before he found some footing and managed to stand against the raging water. The ice mage held out his hands, trying to freeze it again.

 _'I can't freeze it. It's even hotter than before!'_ Gray thought.

"I'M THROUGH WITH LOVE!" Juvia roared, "AND I'M THROUGH WITH YOU!"

The power behind the torrent lifted Gray off his feet and sent flying back.

"I've lived my entire life as a gloomy rain woman," Juvia cried, "but Phantom Lord looked past that! They welcomed me with open arms! I am one of the Element 4, a proud Phantom Lord wizard!"

Juvia's body changed into a surge of water as she shot at Gray. The ice mage caught his footing and summoned an ice shield to block her attack.

"How could you be proud to be with them?" he demanded, "You and your Guild are going down!"

With a mighty yell, Gray punched the water torrent, which made it turn to ice instantly. As Juvia descended to the ground, she noticed that the rain droplets around her had been frozen into hail.

"He even turned the rain into ice! He's amazing!" She said.

" **Ice Make: Geyser!"** Gray incanted as he slammed his fist into the floor.

All of a sudden, a giant geyser of ice sprouted out from the ground above Juvia and trapped her in midair. She screamed in pain from the freezing temperature. Seconds later, the ice shattered into tiny pieces.

As she plummeted off the roof, she thought, _'I lost. It's all over now. I'm going to fall to the ground and splatter…just like a raindrop. I suppose it's a fitting end to a rain woman. Farewell, gloomy Juvia.'_

Juvia was snapped out of her thoughts as she felt a strong hand grab her wrist. She looked up to see Gray on the edge of the roof, holding on to her tightly.

"Just hold on, okay!" He assured, "I promise I won't let you fall!"

The rain woman gazed up at Gray, deeply moved by his selfless heroism.

Gray used his strength to pull her back onto the roof. He gently laid her on her back while he kneeled in front of her.

"Why did you save me?" she asked.

"Just 'cause," he replied, "Now get some rest."

 _'He saved my life,'_ she said in her mind.

Gray turned back with a smile on his face. "You good? You starting to cool down a bit?"

Juvia did not answer. She stared longingly at Gray, tears beginning to leak from her dark blue eyes. Suddenly, she had to close her eyes as a bright, warm light struck her face. As her vision adjusted, she looked up in shock.

The rain clouds that always followed her before, they were retreating. In its place were a beautiful blue sky and the yellow sun beaming brightly.

"The rain?" she gasped. "It stopped?"

"Hey look," Gray said, "the sun is coming out."

"The blue sky, I've never…seen it before." She mumbled with wide eyes.

Gray looked back with a cocked brow. "Seriously? Uh…well there you go. It's pretty don't yah think?"

Juvia was silent for a moment as she admired the blue sky. "It is…truly beautiful." She replied in genuine honesty.

"So," Gray looked back at her with a toothy grin, "you wanna go at it?"

He was obviously referring to another fight, but Juvia thought he meant something entirely different. In response, she howled girlishly with hearts in her eyes. She then passed out, a happy smile on her pale face.

"Hey!" Gray shouted in worry. "Is something wrong? Talk to me, Juvia! You alright!?"

Meanwhile, down in the Fairy Tail courtyard, Erza had re-equipped into her normal Heart Kreuz armor. The number of phantom soldiers attacking the Guild was growing smaller so she didn't need to summon any of her more powerful armors. As she and the others engaged the small groups of phantoms, they began to notice that the Giant was drawing the magic circle very slowly now.

 _'I'm confused. That thing should've cast the spell by now,'_ Erza thought, _'Why is it taking so long?'_

"That thing still hasn't cast the spell." Wakaba voiced.

"This stress is bad for my heart." Macao commented. "We have got to put an end to this."

"Hey, doesn't it seem like the Giant is being turtle-ish right now?" asked Laki.

"Huh?" Wakaba said, looking back at her in confusion, "say what about turtles?"

"She's trying to say the Giant's moving slowly." Macao explained. He then glanced back at Laki and said, "Try thinking before you speak Laki."

"It made perfect sense to me! You guys are just dense!" She countered.

Erza slashed through the last phantom trooper in the courtyard. She walked toward the group and explained, "Natsu, Nero, and the others are in there doing their best to stop that thing, and now…we're going to lend them a hand."

The Queen of the Fairies turned her attention to another wave of phantoms swarming toward them.

"The last thing they need is these things distracting them! We must wipe them out!" She exclaimed.

"It's time to take care of business, kids!" Macao added. "Now let's do this!"

At that, the group of wizards charged forward at the next phantom wave.

"GRAY!" Elfman and Mirajane shouted.

Gray turned his attention away from a passed out Juvia to the duo.

"What's Mirajane doing here?" he wondered.

* * *

What Gray didn't know was that Mirajane had transformed her body to match Lucy's and came forward to Phantom. She tried to give herself up in hopes of buying more time. But her plan to bait Phantom Lord didn't work, as Master Jose easily saw through her disguise. For punishment, he entrapped her in-between the large fingers of the Giant, threatening to crush her.

Erza, who had seen what Jose was doing, tried to rescue Mira, but was too late to stop him. In a hope to rescue Mira, the Fairy Queen tried going into rescue her friend, but she was intercepted by a multitude of phantoms that drove her back to the courtyard. However, Elfman had come to the rescue. Surprisingly, thanks to the mocking of Sol, a member of the Element 4 and Mirajane's crying, Elfman's anger grew so much that he finally succeeded in a full body Take-Over.

He easily defeated Sol and was able to save Mirajane. In addition, he had retained control of himself while performing a full body Take-Over.

As the brother and sister ran up to Gray, the former said, "I see you defeated a member of the Element 4," He paused when he noticed the look on Juvia's face, "Why does she have that creepy grin on her face?"

Gray thought about it for a moment. Though he was dense when it came to romance, he'd overheard most of what Juvia had articulated during their battle. The ice mage knew that this rain woman had somehow developed an attraction toward him. However, there was no way in hell that Gray was going to let anyone know that.

He shrugged and replied, "I don't know. Must be having a good dream or something,"

"There's only one left," Mirajane said, snapping them both back to the situation, "If we can stop them, I think that'll stop the Abyss Break."

"Mira just figured it out," Elfman explained, "The energy of the Element 4 is powering the Giant."

"We can do this, right guys?" Mira said.

They both nodded in agreement.

"So," Gray rubbed his chin in contemplation, "we defeated three. So that means there's only one left. Natsu and Nero are still searching the building. One of them has to run into that last guy."

"Yeah, question is which one?" Elfman inquired. While the wizards wondered which member would find the power source, Nero was about to have a rather unpleasant meeting.

* * *

 _With Nero..._

He knew he didn't have much time, and he knew that a lot of lives were on the line, but he also knew that rushing into things, usually gets him into trouble.

Nero was currently walking down a corridor with a high ceiling, Roman-like pillars lining the way with demon statues placed on the top of them. In his hand was Blue Rose, should he need it, and in all likelyhood, he would. About ten minutes ago, he went off on his own, having split up with Natsu, Gray, and Elfman in hopes of covering more ground to find Abyss Break's power source. As he walked through The Giant, occasional vibrations drew his attention, along with the sound of monstrous roars.

"Minus the Angelos and the damn puzzle, feels like the Savior all over again," muttered Nero to himself as he continued down the corridor.

In all honesty, everything had reminded him of his home: the giant, the phantoms, the crazy leader, and the girl. He wouldn't forget that day, when he was entrusted to protect Yamato by Dante. How he revealed himself to be a demon to...

Nero caught himself, he couldn't go down that road. Not now, not with his friends' lives at stake.

However, it seemed like he was in luck because he hadn't run into any Phantoms yet. Soldiers or mages alike.

"These people are sloppy," muttered Nero, his holy knight training still in him and was showing itself for the first time in years, "practically begging someone to break in. Guards should be patrolling the hallways. But it makes my life easier."

Nero made his way through the end of the corridor, into a large room that had a red carpet stretching down the center of the room and up a grand staircase at the other end. Running along the carpet were brown pillars with light-emitting lacrimas on top.

"Huh," he said to himself, taking a second to observe his surrounding, "only way to go now is up."

However, Nero suddenly felt his gut telling him he was in danger. The Demon Hunter dashed to the side, using his Table Hopper technique to avoid a gust of wind.

Spinning around, Nero aimed Blue Rose at the culprit and fired, only the sound of the bullets striking the stone wall let him know that he missed his target.

"How sad," a voice commented.

Looking in a different direction, the hunter found a swirling twister of air a few meters in front of him. The twister vanished and in its place was a big man wearing a long green coat, a yellow shirt, loose paints, and a green top hat.

"I have seen your power, quite impressive; nonetheless, no matter what form you take, I shall blow you away with my might," The man stated.

"Pretty bold statement," Stated Nero, keeping Devil Bringer out of sight, as a way to surprise the man when he attacks, "and let me guess: you're one of the elemental four?"

The man lifted up his head, revealing to Nero that his eyes were covered by a blindfold. However, the hunter shifted his stance slightly when he saw the stream of tears coming out from behind the blindfold.

"Indeed. My name is Aria," he replied, "I am the strongest of the Element 4. I've come in hopes of slaying a demon-man."

Nero narrowed his eyes into deadly slits, _'Demon-man?'_ Thought the hunter in confusion. There was no way he knew that he was part demon.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I don't have time to play. I came here to do a job, and that job is to shut the Abyss spell's power source down, one way or another," Replied Nero evenly, taking out Red Queen afte holstering Blue Rose and planting the tip into the floor, "and don't think for a second that I won't take you down to get to it."

He then revved the throttle on the sword, flames shot out of the exhaust, "Let's rock!"

With that, Nero dashed towards Aria, Red Queen humming as the hunter closed in on the Mage.

Aria, taken off guard by the speed of which the hunter could move, just barely managed to duck under the wide slash of Nero's Streak. Spinning around, the hunter swung his sword several times at the mage, each time, Aria just managing to dodge the attacks. After one swing, Nero suddenly kicked out his right leg, his boot slammed into his enemy's stomach, causing the mage to stumble back. The hunter then leaped into the air and brought down Red Queen in a move he called Split.

However, Aria dodged the attack by rolling backwards, leaving the sword to strike the ground with a shower of sparks.

"Hmph," Aria huffed, "your fighting prowess is impressive. But a mere sword alone will not grant you victory."

"Are you gonna keeping talking down to me?" Demanded Nero, resting Red Queen on his shoulder, "or are you just a punk that's full of hot gas and cries like a brat when he doesn't get his way?"

Aria sniffled in response, more tears flowing from under his bandages. Nero sweat dropped, but held his neutral expression, "Common man, don't do that, have a little dignity," ordered the hunter, feeling a little uncomfortable by the crying.

"I will make you pay for mocking me!" Aria sobbed. The air mage held out both hands, his thumbs cocked in toward his palms, "Try a taste of my Airspace magic!"

Nero narrowed his eyes and got ready for anything to come. Usually when a wizard cast a spell, a magic circle would appear in front of them. At least, that's what he noticed so far in his time in this crazy magic universe. However, no magical circle appeared.

When you see the attack coming, know how and when to get out of the way, so the hunter had no ability to know when to get out of the way. In short, Nero was suddenly blasted back by a blast of air that collided with his chest. The wall of air caused him to tumble slightly, but the hunter was able to right himself just in the nick of time. Landing on his feet, he rolled back in order to stabilize himself before using Devil Bringer's claws to dig into the floor and slow him down. He felt the impact of the attack; nevertheless, his natural durability prevented Nero from experiencing any real pain.

The air wizard looked at Nero peculiarly, though the hunter couldn't tell because of the bandages covering his eyes. He was intrigued that this Demon-Slayer mage was able to get up so easily after that attack. Granted he was holding back his full strength, but still.

"Well, Airspace, Huh?" Recalled Nero as he glared at Aria, "Guess I was wrong; you're not full of hot gas, you're just a blowhard," as he said that, the hunter rose to his feet, "if that's the case, then I better knock you down a couple notches."

Leaping into the air suddenly, Nero had an overhead view of the mage. Whilst still in the air, Nero swung out Devil Bringer, and from his arm, four Summoned Swords appeared. The blades twirled around Nero for a second before each one fired off one at a time.

Aria was unprepared for the ethereal blades to appear suddenly. Only just managing to get out of the way. The sharp blades hitting where he previous been. After being forced to dodge, Aria was unprepared for when Nero closed the distance between them in a second by using Devil Bringer again, this time, Spectral Bringer grabbing the mage by the face and Nero pulled himself towards his opponent.

Once he was in close, Nero went on the offensive, swinging Red Queen with brutal attacks. Bringing down the sword in a left diagonal slash, following with a right slash, a quick upward cut, before bring the sword down, the blade glowing a light blue hue the entire time. Each strike hit Aria, the last sent the air mage flying back off his feet and collided with the staircase.

"Guess he was just hot air," said Nero with a smirk. It was a little to himself, but also for Aria to hear that he wasn't taking the air mage seriously.

However, Nero lost his sense of humor when he saw the aforementioned mage rise up. He was hit with a light barrage, so the Demon Hunter expected him to get back up.

Aria of the Heavens sniffled, more tears falling from beneath his bandages.

"Amateur!" he yelled, with a hint of sobbing, "Your powers are nothing against mine!"

He held out one hand, this time, a purple magical seal appeared, **"Airspace: Zetsu!"**

Suddenly, a bombardment of invisible, hard air bubbles fired out from Aria's seal and struck Nero at multiple points on his body. As a result, the demon hunter was blown back several yards, before he managed to right himself and slide across the floor on his feet.

 _'Okay, So this guy isn't just all talk,'_ Thought Nero as he steadied himself. When he was first hit, it didn't feel anymore painful than a mosquito bite. But being hit from several different angles all at the same time, that hurt.

Through his own musing, he heard Aria chuckling, "Perhaps I have overestimated you, dear demon-man," taunted the air mage.

Nero didn't respond and only growled as his right hand immediately went for Blue Rose and drew the firearm. Taking aim, the hunter fired at the man. However, Aria's body became hazy until he vanished out of sight while the bullet struck one of the steps on the staircase. Out of nowhere, Aria appeared behind Nero, and tried to blast him with an airspace attack. However, Nero rolled out of the way just in time to dodge the attack.

Spinning around, he took aim at Aria and tried shooting him again, but met the same result as the mage vanished.

"Teleportation," muttered Nero, quickly realizing what trick Aria was using. However, was caught off guard when he was blasted from the side by another airspace blast. The demon hunter was sent stumbling back as he backpedaled to steady himself before coming to a halt. Platinum bangs hung over Nero's eyes as he steadied himself with his right hand to keep from falling onto his stomach

"Hmm…," Aria hummed, watching as Nero stood back up, "you still stand after an attack like that?"

"Gonna take a lot more than a little wind to knock me down," Stated Nero, glaring at the wizard.

"Nonetheless, your sword, gun, and power is nowhere close to challenging my Airspace Magic," He noted.

He was right, Nero knew he couldn't keep this up if he didn't go all out. With the way he was fighting, he couldn't beat Aria. The guy had wind magic, something he's never had to deal with, and while he did have his own tricks up his sleeve, he was fighting a completely new enemy.

"You know what, you're right," Stated Nero as he holstered Blue Rose, but kept a strong grip on Red Queen.

"I am, so glad you-," started Aria, thinking that the demon hunter was surrendering, however, Nero was just getting started.

"I haven't been taking you seriously and that's my fault," continued the demon hybrid, his bangs covering his eyes, "but with everything on the line, my friends and family, I can't afford not to go all out."

This definitely caught Aria's attention. This entire time, this Slayer hadn't been taking him, Aria of the Heavens, member of the Elemental Four, seriously?!

"So let me ask you something, _Aria,"_ as Nero spoke, his voice became distorted, inhumanly so as the hunter slouched in front of the man, keeping his eyes hidden, even as blue energy flickered across his body. Aria took a tentative step back, his eyes widening behind his blindfold. A feeling of dread fell across the room he was in with this... thing. What the hell was going on? "You ever duel with a Demon?"

"W-What are you saying?" Stammered the air mage in fear, and when he did, he wished he hadn't as the Demon Hunter suddenly raised his right hand, letting Aria see Devil Bringer. The mage had the grace to gawk at what he saw. It was a demonic limb, or at least, an arm that belonged on a demon.

"If you haven't, Well," Stated the Demon Hunter, his voice returning to normal, but still completely unnerved Aria to no end _,_ "then I guess I better give you a fair warning that this Demon is fresh out of mercy!"

As Nero said that, he thrusted out Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer shot right at the mage. When the claws and palm slammed into him, Aria was grabbed by his face and yanked right towards the Demon Hybrid. Once he was in close, Nero began his assault.

The Hunter started by viciously bringing down Red Queen, slashing harshly and mercilessly. Pressing his attack, the demon hunter, forced Aria back, with several more brutal slashes, allowing Nero to strike twice with every swing.

The air mage was knocked back with each hit, and he would've been knocked back further if Nero hadn't suddenly grabbed him with a sudden upward swing of Devil Bringer, the Spectral Bringer grabbing hold of Aria by his chest. Once he had him, Nero smashed him into the floor, cracking, before smashing him again, this time causing the mage to bounce and let Nero basically punt him across the room like a football.

Aria was back to his feet quickly, but he was still shocked by what he had just seen.

He had never seen any kind of Demon-Slayer magic like that before. It seemed this mage had the ability to summon an ethereal appendage, but his own abilities as well were staggering. The strength was incredible. How was that possible? Something like that would require a lot of magical energy.

The mage was brought out of his musing pretty quickly when he saw Nero throw out Devil Bringer again, Spectral Bringer appearing in tandem. With his strength, the hunter punched the floor in front of him, resulting in a shockwave that traveled through the stone floor. Aria didn't react in time as the shockwave threw him off his feet and into a wall, landing on his chest in a comical fashion.

The green coat wizard got up and glared at the Demon Hybrid, "Impressive, I've never seen magic like that," Aria remarked, he then sneered, "It'll be a pleasure defeating you."

"The beating I just gave you says otherwise," Stated Nero, returning the glare with equal intensity.

Aria held out his hands, a purple magic seal appearing in front of him, **"Airspace: Zetsu!"**

When the attack ceased, Aria was surprised to see his opponent still standing. But what really shocked him was that he hardly looked fazed or even injured.

 **"If that's your best, then you better take you own advice and run,"** taunted Nero, as he flipped Red Queen around. While it may have looked like he was taunting Aria, he was actually secretly revving up the Exceed. He figured he'd put the air mage through the paces of the Exceed System. After reving Red Queen a few more times, Nero suddenly leaped into the air. While in the air, the hunter flipped himself around so that the tip of his sword would come right down onto Aria. This was a trick he called Double Down.

The blazing sword and hunter sped right down towards Aria, only for his attack to be blocked midair by an airspace shield. A conflagration of flames erupted as the kinetic energy sent the flames right down across the shield. Nevertheless, Nero noticed that the blow did make Aria slide back a bit when he, himself, regained his footing.

Seeing this, Nero sheathed Red Queen and drew Blue Rose. Aiming it at the mage, Nero began to fire with no intention of stopping. Each shot was accompanied by a Summoned Sword, which shattered on impact with the shield, but pushed Aria back each time.

The air mage growled, annoyed that his airspace attacks weren't really going to be able to cause any real harm to his enemy. But then, another idea popped in his mind, causing Aria of the Heavens to smirk.

"It's no use, dear demon-man," Aria commented, "You cannot defeat me."

"Famous last words, buddy," Snapped Nero, his temper getting the better of him. He lunged at the airspace shield and smashed Spectral Bringer into the side, causing a resounding bang when the dust collided with it, "I'm just getting warmed up!"

Aria grinned wickedly, "Then allow me to relieve you of that heat."

The man in the long green coat shot out a huge airspace, which smacked into Nero, sending him flying back where he landed against wall on his feet before pushing off so that he landed in the middle of the room. His vision went right back to where he last Aria, but found that he was gone. Keeping his guard up, Nero looked around, knowing that he had to finish this quickly, he didn't know how long he had before the Abyss Spell was ready.

"Where'd you run," muttered Nero to himself, looking around the room.

All of a sudden, Aria appeared behind the demon hunter, "You think I ran away?"

Whirling around, Nero did so just in time to see two magic circles appear on both sides of him.

" **Airspace: Drain!"** Aria chanted loudly.

Suddenly, golden light illuminated underneath the Demon Hunter, starting at his feet and was cast all over his form. Nero looked at the source of the light, not certain what to expect Aria was trying to accomplish, that was until Nero felt himself grow weaker. Gritting his teeth, Nero fell to one knee, but refused to go down. He could feel some power being siphoned from him. The hunter groaned, but his eyes flashed, he wouldn't lose to this overconfident jackass. Forcing himself back to his feet, despite losing some power, he still had plenty in the tank.

Aria's confident expression quickly turned into shock and disbelief. How could this be? His Metsu could drain any wizard of their magical energy. How could this mage still be standing?!

When the golden light faded, Aria stood petrified, his jaw close to falling off his face. "H-h-how is this possible?!" he stuttered apprehensively, "T-t-that spell should've drained every ounce of magical power inside you!"

"Really?" Drawled Nero, as he grabbed Aria by his chest and lifted him up with Spectral Bringer, "well then you would be glad to know now that magic isn't an effective weapon against demons."

Using Spectral Bringer, Nero smashed him into the ground hard enough that Aria bounced off it. Pulling his fist back, the Spectral began to increase in size, but only slightly as it grew to be twice its size. Nero let out a powerful yell as he sent the giant fist right at the air mage with enough force to smash him through a wall.

Then something clicked in Nero's mind, something that he said. The spell that Aria had tried to cast on him. He said that this 'Airspace: Drain' could suck the magic out of any wizard. Did that mean that Aria was responsible for Master Makarov almost getting killed? The dots began to connect in his mind; he glowered when he came to an easy conclusion.

The pile of crumbled stone shifted as Aria stood back up, a few cuts and bruises on his face. The powerful air wizard scowled at Nero, "Incredible," he admitted, "I've never had that happen before."

"YOU!" Roared Nero in fury, ignoring what Aria just said, "YOU WERE THE ONE THAT DRAINED MAKAROV OF HIS MAGIC!"

"Indeed I did," the blindfolded man smirked smugly, tears still trailing down his face, "I'm anxious to see what you plan to do about it."

"Trust me when I say, no," Snarled Nero as he flipped Red Queen around before taking it in his right hand. His left went into his caot and took out Blue Rose. The demon's eyes flickered blood red as he glowered at Aria, "You don't want to know."

As he said that, Nero lunged at Aria, firing Blue Rose, the powerful handgun cracking as the shots were fired. The air mage just managed to dodge the attack and watched as the bullets collided with the wall. The result was a large hole formed when the bullets exploded.

Behind his bandages, Aria's eyes widened again in astonishment. Such power. How did he possess such power? He was somehow charging his weapon with his own power. How was this possible? And is this the full extent of it? After a short moment, Aria's shocked expression turned into a confident smile.

"Since I am now in the presence of a worthy opponent," said a calm Aria, "I believe it is necessary for me to step up my game."

He reached up and pulled off his bandages, revealing his eyes. His eyes were white with small pink pupils. Suddenly, his pupils grew larger as a white 'X' appeared in the pupils.

Nero only snorted, having seen much worse as a demon hunter. However, he would admit, it was weird seeing that. But he couldn't think about that right now, he had to bear him. He had to protect his friends. He had to this, so he wouldn't lose anyone else.

 _He needed more power..._

 ** _To be continued..._**


	13. Chapter 13 Phantom Lord Part 4

**_And here we are, part 4 of the Phantom Lord Arc. Okay, just to give some context, I originally considered Nero activating his Trigger during his fight with Aria, but then I remembered that Jose is crazy powerful, so, the Phantom Lord Master has the privilege of being the first human to have the crap beaten out of him by Nero going full trigger. Also, I fully intend on making some references to previous Devil May Cry games, cause, let's face it, Jose dresses the same way as Arkham does when he was pretending to be Jester. Another thing to note, I plan to give Nero the ability to fight with just his hands. Like how Trish has her own form of hand-to-hand combat in the form of Bare Fists. I do plan on making some unique moves for Nero, ones that involve Devil Bringer and Spectral Bringer._**

 ** _Another thing to note, I plan on having Nero and Erza take on Jose in the end, but leave the final blow to Makarov, because the guy needs a little more screen time for this arc and letting Nero do the deed just seems predictable to me. In other news, I will be introducing other Buster moves in later chapters and a few Easter eggs later on._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing; Devil May Cry is owned by Capcom and Fairy Tail is owned by whoever owns Fairy Tail._**

 ** _As per my promise, kudos to Ultimate10 for inspiring me to write this story, you're an awesome writer and I wish I was half the writer you are._**

* * *

 ** _Devil Tail_**

 ** _Chapter 13: Phantom Lord Part 4_**

 ** _Fairy Tail Guild_**

Things had been escalating without any signs of stopping. Natsu, Gray, Elfman, and several others were looking to defeat the last of the Element 4, unaware that Nero was already in the process of doing so, and was holding his own incredibly well. While Nero fueled Aria, outside in the Fairy Tail courtyard, the remaining wizards left standing to defend their Guild continued to fight the seemingly endless waves of phantom soldiers. For every group they wiped out, more popped up in their place. The fatigue on everyone was beginning to show, but none of them would dare falter now.

Erza, who had re-quipped into her Flame Empress armor, cocked back her flaming sword and delivered a fiery slash at a mass of phantoms. The light and intense heat instantly destroyed the Shade creations.

Without warning, the attention of the Guild and Magnolia citizens was captured by the huge magical seal being drawn slowly in front of the Giant. It appeared to be glowing. Nearly everyone in Magnolia and some of the Fairy Tail mages began to panic. Erza's own eyes widened in horror as she lightly gasped. That sign meant that there was almost enough accumulated power for the Abyss Break spell to be cast.

 _'Come on boys, what is taking so long?'_ Erza thought, _'You must hurry. Don't fail me now!'_

Then, Erza felt another chilling sensation travel down her spine that made her shiver uncomfortably. She only got this feeling when something evil and powerful was nearby. What was going on in there?

* * *

 ** _Phantom Lord, The Giant, Inner hallway_**

Back inside The Giant, the fight between Fairy Tail's Demon Hunter and the final member of the Elemental 4 still standing we're going at with all they had, but it seemed that Nero had the edge in pretty much every category.

Nero leaped back, flipping around as he fired several rounds with Blue Rose at Aria, forcing the mage to shield himself with his airspace magic. When Nero landed, he continued firing, a look of anger on his face. This guy was really starting to piss him off.

The hunter only stopped firing when he saw smoky gusts of wind collected around Aria, the power around him growing ever stronger now that his blindfold had been removed. He could now unleash his full strength.

"Now demon-man," Aria said, moving his hands so that his right was oriented upwards and his left hand was facing down, "step into Zero, the airspace of death. It is capable of consuming all life in its path."

Nero growled angrily as his glare intensified. This guy was willing to take away life so easily? With no remorse for his actions? The hunter adjusted his grip on Red Queen; to him, Aria was no better than a monster. A demon.

"You'd take away life so easily with no remorse?!" Snarled the hunter, pointing Red Queen at him, "That makes you no better than the demons I hunt!"

Aria sneered, he cared little of what this Fairy Tail scum thought, "Think what you want, it doesn't matter," Smoky wind gathered around his hands, "Now, let's see how you handle this, cretin!" He then discharged a large, hazy whirlwind at Nero.

The hunter held his ground, crossing his arms across his chest, using Red Queen and Blue Rose to shield himself from the incoming gust of wind. Adjusting his stance, Nero was able to hold himself against the rush of wind, despite his own lightweight in contrast to the power of the wind. Instead, his boots began to slide back slightly.

Nero groaned as he could feel barrages or airspace attacks hit him from multiple angles. The magic, he could feel the magic trying to kill him, take away his life, but he wouldn't let it.

Nero finally stopped sliding back as he held his ground, an inhuman growl rumbled from the hunter. Looking up, the hunter could see Aria through the whirlwind. His eyes flashed red as the human-demon began to push through the barrage of airspace attacks and the power of the wind. His coat billowing behind him as he picked up the pace, pushing through the spell until he was in a full sprint.

Aria's gasped in shock at Nero being able to run through Zero's whirlwinds and airspace projectiles, "What?! No! This can't be!" he cried.

Nero continued to sprint forward, holstering Blue Rose as he took Red Queen and sheathed it across his back. Once he was close enough, the hunter leaped into the air, an enraged yell coming from him as he pulled back Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer appeared alongside as he came down on the air mage. With the ethereal fist cocked back, Nero sent it full force right at Aria.

A powerful bang sounded as the fist collided with the mage's chest, sending the man flying back, however, his beating just began. Nero reached out with Devil Bringer and grabbed Aria by his ankle and pulled him back. The mage looked at the hunter in fear, catching a glimpse of the look of fury blazing in his glowing red eyes. The glimpse only lasted for a second before Nero smashed Devil Bringer directly into his face. The impact forced the mage right into the floor, leaving a shallow crater as the hunter grabbed him by his hair with his left hand and began mercilessly pummeling his face in.

The platinum blonde was crouched over the airspace mage, just punching his face. Blow after blow was dealt, even as blood began to splatter his hand. The mage's blood, not the hunter's. But after a few more punches, the hunter managed to catch himself, his breathing ragged as his rage began to dwindle.

Soon, the reality of the situation set in. Nero's face changed from anger to regret. In the shallow crater, Aria lay, beaten within an inch of his life. He was alive, but the numerous bruises, cuts, and injuries were testament enough that the fury of a Demon Hunter was dangerous.

A sigh escaped Nero as he stood up, his fist falling to his side as he released his grip on the mage's hair. Turning away from the scene, the hunter looked at his hands, especially Devil Bringer. The blood contrasting against the cyan blue glow.

He nearly lost it.

He nearly broke the one rule Dante would actually listen to and made sure all his friends also adhered to. But more importantly, he acted like _him._

Nero clenched his eyes shut as he took Devil Bringer and gripped it by the wrist. However, resolved himself as he released his grip on his right arm. Letting it fall to his side. The hunter only glanced back when he heard Aria groan in pain, reassuring the hunter, to an extent, that despite the punishment, Aria was still alive.

"Using a spell to consume all life? Just how pathetic can you be?" Inquired Nero as he stepped towards Aria, the wizard looking at Nero with his right eye because it wasn't as bruised as his left, which was completely shut due to the pummeling, "You're not strong. You're not even in the same league as either me or Makarov. The only thing that will be associated with you, is that your a spineless, sobbing coward."

A waterfall of tears streamed down Aria's cut face, the tears had a slight red coloring as blood seemed down into them as they fell, his lips quivering, "That's…so sad," he sobbed before finally succumbing to unconsciousness.

"And for the record, I'm only part demon," Stated Nero as he looked down at the mage with no sympathy in his eyes at all, "but I'm a full-on Demon Hunter."

* * *

 ** _Fairy Tail Guild, Magnolia_**

The Fairy Tail wizards and Magnolia residents were all beginning to freak out as the golden magic circle in front of the Giant became brighter. All of a sudden, the light dimmed away as the magical seal disappeared. The Giant's crimson eyes faded into blackness.

When the giant mechanical robot's arms fell limply to its sides, the Fairy Tail mages all cheered. Erza let out a sigh of relief. They had cut it close, but the boys managed to prevent the Abyss Break spell from being cast.

"They did it!" Cana cheered, "They must've taken out the Element 4."

Erza smiled, _'Good work, boys,'_ Suddenly, Titania felt another cold feeling run through her body. However, this time, it felt even more disturbing than before. She had to wonder, what could possibly make her feel like this? out as the golden magic circle in front of the Giant became brighter. All of a sudden, the light dimmed away as the magical seal disappeared. The Giant's crimson eyes faded into blackness.

When the giant mechanical robot's arms fell limply to its sides, the Fairy Tail mages all cheered. Erza let out a sigh of relief. They had cut it close, but the boys managed to prevent the Abyss Break spell from being cast.

"They did it!" Cana cheered, "They must've taken out the Element 4."

Erza smiled, _'Good work, boys,'_ Suddenly, Titania felt another cold feeling run through her body. However, this time, it felt even more disturbing than before. She had to wonder, what could possibly make her feel like this?

* * *

 ** _Phantom Lord, The Giant, Control Center_**

Within The Giant, Inside a dark, stone room that served as the command center for the Giant, the master of Phantom Lord was furious.

"I don't believe it!" Jose yelled, "My strongest wizards, the Element 4, were defeated by those worthless Fairy Tail scum!"

"Guess that makes them even worse than scum, huh?" Gajeel commented.

"Gajeel," Jose turned and looked down from a high platform to see the Iron Dragon Slayer. Heaved over his right shoulder was Lucy, her clothes torn and shredded in places, and she herself looked beaten, "So I see you returned bearing a gift, have you?"

"Yeah, I picked up a little something while I was out." He replied as he dropped Lucy's unconscious form to the floor.

"Very impressive, but pray tell," Jose asked, "How were you able to track her down so quickly?"

"Never underestimate the nose of a Dragon Slayer," The black haired man answered.

"She is alive, right?" the Phantom Lord master inquired while frowning, "Without a pulse she's worthless to us."

Gajeel hummed as he held his chin in fake thought, "I was pretty rough with her. LET'S SEE!" Without warning, he kicked Lucy into a wall, denting it in the process.

Lucy awoke from unconsciousness, coughing up a little blood as her body was filled with pain.

"Yep! She's still alive and kicking!" Gajeel remarked smugly.

"Excellent work, Gajeel," Jose praised with a sinister smile, "I knew I could count on you!"

* * *

 _ **General Area**_

Everyone's attention, whether they were inside the Giant or in the courtyard, was grabbed by a ding in the Phantom Lord's PA system.

 _'Attention you pathetic Fairy Tail scum,'_ Jose said, _'listen carefully because I'll only say this once.'_

Suddenly, a familiar feminine scream sounded through the speakers that made every single mage freeze in horror while Nero gritted his teeth in fury at what he heard.

 _'we have captured your precious Lucy Heartfilia, which means that our first order of business is now out of the way. And that means only one more thing, my favorite part, wiping you pathetic brats right off the face of Earthland.'_

* * *

 _ **Phantom Lord, The Giant, Control Center**_

After giving the enemy his announcement, Jose walked to the door, but before he then stopped, "Keep an eye out on the girl," He ordered, "There are still some pests scuttling around in my Guild Hall."

"You talkin' about Salamander and that Demon-Slayer mage?" Gajeel asked.

"Yes, and their friends," He answered, "They've been lucky this far, but their luck is about to come to an end. I'm going to exterminate them myself," The aura around Jose became darker and deadlier, a violent, eerie light shining from his body.

* * *

 _With Natsu..._

Natsu, who had been running down a long corridor, froze in his tracks as soon as Jose's proclamation came through on the speakers. He clenched his fists as his body shook in ferocity, rage plastered all over his face.

"Lucy," he said inaudibly, to himself, "They…they got her."

"Oh no," Happy added worriedly, "Natsu, what do we do?"

The Dragon Slayer didn't respond. His fists tightened as the rage and power coursing through his body began to intensify. Flames ignited all over his body as his strength increased, the strong emotions inside him boosting his powers to new heights.

Happy watched in awe, taking a small tentative step back, "N-Natsu?"

Suddenly, the flames on Natsu's body became bigger until they combusted upward, taking the shape of a dragon with wings and a horned head. His eyes were glowing bright gold as he let out a deafening yell that shook the building.

* * *

 _With Nero..._

Nero growled in anger as he whipped out Blue Rose and shot the PA speaker in anger, after hearing what Jose had said, and what had been to Lucy if her cry of pain was any clue. In his anger, Nero unsheathed Red Queen, taking it in his right hand as he was about to start tearing the place to shreds to find Lucy and Jose to make him pay for what had been done.

He stomped off, raising his sword to smash a wall down, but stopped when he heard a familiar, yet faint yell coming through the stone walls.

"Guess I'm not the only one pissed off," said Nero, to himself as he recognized the yell as Natsu.

"NERO!" a feminine voice cried.

Turning around, the hunter saw Mirajane, Gray, and Elfman sprinting into the room. The trio had cuts and bruises in various places on their bodies whilst their clothing was ripped in random areas. The three looked like they had gone through hell.

"Mira?" Said Nero, recognizing his friend, though extremely confused as to why she was here. From what he knows, although Mira used to be a Wizard, she retired to work at the bar in Fairy Tail. What was she doing here, "The hell are you doing? What happened?"

"Jose kidnapped me and was about to kill me when I tried to impersonate Lucy. Elfman saved me though by changing into a full body Take-Over," the white haired woman replied.

"Guess that explains what that yell was I heard earlier," Commented Nero, recalling the yell he heard, "you guys find the Abyss spells power source yet?"

"Yeah," Gray answered, "it turns out the power source is actually the Element 4. Once we defeated them, we stopped the spell from being cast."

"At least there's some good news," sighed Nero, relieved that his friends and the people were out of immediate danger. But his expression changed back to from seriousness as he focused on their new dilemma, "but now Jose has Lucy. Means we got to save her."

"Since Natsu's not here, I can imagine he's getting right on that," Gray replied.

Elfman looked behind Nero to see a beaten Aria lying in a pile of debris. "Whoa!" he said, his eyes growing wider from surprise, "That's Aria!"

"Woah," breathed Gray, when he saw the unconscious wizard, "You defeated him all by yourself?"

"Yeah," Replied Nero evenly, though he winced a little when Mira saw him. She let out a little gasp when she saw the injuries he suffered. Gray and Elfman both agreed that Nero went a little overboard.

"What did you do to him?" she asked, turning back to the hunter, seeing the regretful look on his face.

"Guy said and used some spells that reminded me of someone I knew," he answered, though deflected a direct answer.

"What happened?" Asked Mira, wanting to know what caused Nero to snap like this. She had gotten to know the hunter well since he first arrived here, and she could tell that, while he was rough around the edges, he was a good person at heart.

Before the hunter could try to deflect away, the room was suddenly filled with a dark haze.

The group froze as the black cloud created unpleasant, horrid sensations in their bodies. It felt as if death was coursing around them, trying to take away their souls.

"What the?" Gray mumbled.

"What is it?" Mirajane wondered.

"It's like death," Said Nero, narrowing his eyes, "I can feel it."

"I…I don't like this feeling." The ice mage stammered.

"Man," Elfman remarked, "I'm super manly and this is even giving me the creeps."

"Whatever it is, it's pure evil," said Mirajane.

Suddenly, ominous clapping echoed through the massive, silent room. The group turned around to see a man wearing blue pants, a blue coat with a yellow trim, and black boots. His hair was black and tied back in a ponytail. His mustache was cut clean and his lips were a sickly onyx. But what really caught their gaze was the purplish-black energy radiating off of his body.

To Nero, he looked quite similar to Jester, a persona Arkham has adopted when Dante and Lady first met. Arkham had been working with Vergil, trying to take the power Sparda had left behind when he sealed the Demon World away. Arkham double crossed Vergil and manipulated him, Dante, and Lady into fighting each other so that he could take the power for himself. Jester was the persona he used when he was manipulating Dante into doing what he wanted.

"Bravo. You are all quite keen. Very impressive, Fairy Tail wizards," the leader of Phantom Lord commended the group, "But never in my wildest dreams did I believe it would be this entertaining. Taking out my Jupiter Cannon, disposing of my elite Element 4, and you even managed to bring my Giant to its knees."

"So, you're Jose?" his tone unimpressed, as a way to annoy Jose, but Nero was no fool, he was very wary of the man in front of them, but he didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing the hunter uneasy. The darkness surrounding the man...it felt wrong. Not like a demon, but compared to most magic, it clearly was something dangerous.

Elfman, Gray, and Mirajane's expressions turned into shock and horror, "No way!" the former whispered.

"He's Phantom Lord's master?!" Gray yelled.

 _'Oh no,'_ Mirajane thought while holding a hand over her mouth, _'It's like a dark cloud is hanging over him. It makes me sick just being near him.'_

"You've all entertained me so much I just have to return the favor," Jose stated.

Nero snorted, as he reached for Red Queen, stowing his fear while Elfman and Gray got over theirs and adopted looks of determination and defiance. The Demon Hunter unsheathed his sword and let the blade rest on the ground.

"Well, you guys waiting on me? Or are you ready?" asked Nero, flipping Red Queen around, planting the tip into the ground before revving it twice, letting the flames blaze out.

"Oh yeah," they both replied.

Jose smirked sinisterly, "I'll return it in full."

Gray took a stance, and chanted, **"Ice Make: Saucer!"**

Elfman held up his right arm, a magic circle appearing on top of it, **"Beast arm!"**

"WAIT!" Mirajane screamed; however, her protests were ignored as Elfman and Gray jumped at Jose.

All of a sudden, an amethyst circle appeared in front of Jose, and then a volley of purple jellyfish-like ghosts fired out from it. Gray and Elfman both shouted in agony as the ghosts blasted them backwards, where they crashed into the floor.

"Elfman! Gray!" Mirajane cried.

Nero growled in an anger before he turned to Jose. However, before the Hunter could even make a move, the darkness mage moved his hand in a swift arc pattern. As a result, a red explosion of magical energy sent the group, minus Nero who Table Hopped away at the last second. The trio hit the side of the room, striking the stone floor hard. That one attack put all of them out of the fight.

Nero's reflexes were the only thing that saved him from taking the full force, but he was still nicked a little as he stumbled across the ground but managed to roll to his feet. Nero grunted as pain laced his body, but he didn't care. The hunter charged, letting out a war cry as he charged, dragging the tip of Red Queen across the ground as he got ready to slice Jose to pieces.

The wielder of darkness magic smiled haughtily as he held out his hand. Remarkably, a tornado of purple and black energy fired from his hand and smacked into Nero, blowing him back. The whirlwind of dark magic reversed Nero's trajectory completely, but he managed to hold his footing and steady himself. Though he was being pushed back, the hunter managed to slow himself to where he stopped completely.

Using Devil Bringer to shield his face, Nero raised his head as he growled in anger and pain. Whatever the heck Jose was blasting him with, it definitely caused pain, but not to the extent which could've been felt by anyone else. Adjusting his grip on Red Queen, Nero held the sword tightly with his left hand and swung out, completely dispersing the whirlwind.

Jose raised an eyebrow in surprise, seeing his magic dissipated so easily by the Demon Slayer. Taking his surprise for an opening, Nero swung out Devil Bringer, creating six Summoned Swords, each one spun right towards Jose.

In response, the Master of Phantom Lord held out his hands horizontally, smaller violent beams shot out from his fingertips and intercepted all of the swords, shattering them between the two. As the pieces vanished, both the Son of the Dark Slayer and Phantom Lord Master stood tall, facing each other, the latter with a calm and superior look.

"Fascinating," Jose remarked, "You used some sort of weapon which overpowered the Jupiter Cannon and defeated my strongest mage singlehandedly."

"Wouldn't be the first time I've exceeded expectations, and nor is it the first time I've beaten people like you and I've dealt with worse," started Nero, the hunter narrowed his baby blue eyes as he locked his attention on the man before him, "Whatever you throw at me, I'll just find a way to beat it."

A wicked, malevolent smile took shape on Jose's onyx lips, "Powerful, arrogant, courageous, and overconfident…destroying you will fill me with unbelievable pleasure."

"I beg to differ," retorted Nero in anger as the two stared each other down. The tension between them was so thick, a person could cut it with a knife. One daring the other to make the first move, testing to see which had the greater resolve. And it seemed that Nero wanted to end this now as he suddenly lunged forward at full speed, charging right for Jose. The darkness mage simply grinned evilly as he held out his hand and fired an ethereal pillar at his opponent. The Demon Hunter raised Devil Bringer and threw out Spectral Bringer, the ethereal hand much larger than normal as all its fingers were stretched out and the open palm ready to snatch the master, but collided with the pillar.

As a result, an explosion of purple ghostly energy shrouded the room and even shook the building a bit. The battle between the Demon Hunter and the Phantom Lord Master was taking place.

* * *

 _ **Fairy Tail Guild, Magnolia**_

Erza, still in her Flame Empress Armor, was slashing her sword in the air and sending multiple fiery waves at the countless phantom Shades that were attacking them. All the Fairy Tail wizards were growing weaker and tired, but they still continued to fight.

"Geez, these things just keep coming," Cana said as she threw out a few cards on the ground underneath a group of phantoms. Suddenly, a bright light shone out from the cards and immediately destroyed the Shade creations.

"Indeed," Erza replied, "I'll change into a stronger suit of armor. Perhaps I can take a load of stress off of everyone-"

Suddenly, the bright scarlet-haired girl froze in midsentence. Her eyes widened whilst an expression of alarm was cast on her face. At that moment, she had felt an eerie, deathly feeling seep into her body. It made her absolutely sick. In response, Erza fell to a knee, clutching her stomach in pain.

"Erza!" Cana shouted. The card mage ran over to her comrade and kneeled by her.

Titania was lost in her thoughts. The source of the sickening disturbance was coming from Phantom's Guild Hall. As she looked up at the Giant, she felt her insides twist. Whatever was causing this disturbing sensation, Erza couldn't ignore it anymore. Her friends needed her.

"Cana, you and the others hold the fort here. I have to go," Erza commanded, standing right back up.

"What? Why?" Cana asked; confused as to why Erza was leaving.

"I am sensing something evil and very powerful coming from Phantom's headquarters. I can't ignore it anymore. I must assist my friends while I still can," She answered.

The brunette girl nodded in understanding, "Don't worry! We'll hold on for as long as we can."

Erza smiled and nodded. Her body was then shrouded by golden light. When the flash faded, she was attiring her Black Wing Armor. Titania crouched low and leaped into the air, flying at top speed towards the giant robot.

* * *

 _ **Phantom Lord, Control Center**_

Lucy cried out as she was thrown into the stone wall for the umpteenth time. Her clothes were torn and her body was beaten badly. From the middle of the room, Gajeel shifted his iron-club arm back to normal.

"C'mon," Gajeel taunted, "you gotta sing better than that."

Lucy whimpered slightly, the pain coursing through her body was intense.

"Too bad," the iron-eating mage sneered, "your heart's just not in it."

"Hey Gajeel, hasn't she had enough?" a Phantom mage implied, standing alongside a small group of other wizards, "Besides, the master said he doesn't want her getting hurt or nothing."

Gajeel lifted a brow, "But what else am I supposed to do?" He then turned away, his expression growing serious, "I can't believe he's doing this. He leaves me to watch over her while he has all the fun."

He shifted his left arm into an iron-club and stepped toward Lucy, who was still on the ground trembling.

"Anyways, I'm just playing with my new toy."

"Yeah…but if the master catches you doing this, we're all gonna be in trouble," The mage stated.

Gajeel frowned as he turned back and extended out his iron pillar, slamming it into the man's face. This shocked the other Phantom wizards in the room.

"Shut up!" Gajeel said, "I know master thinks she's important, but she's just another piece of Fairy scum to me. Hmph, even though she's a girl, she's still a wizard. She should've known what she was getting herself into when she joined that Guild."

"You're taking this too far, man. Let it go," A dark-skinned man wearing shades and a white jacket named Boze urged.

"Master's gonna lose it, isn't he?" added a dark-skinned girl named Sue.

"Well then, I'll just tell him that it was all your idea," Gajeel smirked before he began laughing.

Boze and Sue both sweat dropped in nervousness, "Please don't do that," they both said in unison.

Gajeel then turned back to Lucy, who was steadily picking herself up from the floor, "Aw, I kinda feel sorry for her. Her fellow guild members didn't even want her back until they found out that her old man's loaded."

To the iron mage's surprise, Lucy actually smirked and chuckled. As she shakily stood up, she said, "Geez, you're so dumb. I can barely even believe it. It's just sad. I actually feel sorry for you."

"What? Did she really just say that?" Boze asked in disbelief.

"Is this chick really talkin' smack to Gajeel?" Sue added.

Lucy looked straight at Gajeel, a confident smile on her bruised face, "Phantom Lord, huh? Ruler of the spirits? Oh please, you don't scare me at all."

Gajeel smiled sinisterly, "You shouldn't have said that."

Within a blink of an eye, the Iron Dragon Slayer extended an iron-club and slammed it into Lucy's abdomen, pinning her against the wall.

"You've got some nerve running your mouth like that in a situation like this, princess. I have to admit, you got guts." He then pulled back his arm, letting her fall to her knees in exhaustion and agony. "Make some noise! But not this trash talk act you're putting on, I want screams! And if I don't start getting what I want, you're gonna be sorry!"

Despite the pain she was enduring, Lucy looked back up with a smirk, "Then why don't you just go ahead and finish me," She retorted with steel in her voice, "Then you're gonna be sorry. Just you wait."

"Oh yeah, who's gonna make me?!" Gajeel demanded, "I'm curious."

The other Phantom Lord mages could only watch the scene in front of them, but they had to concede, Lucy was either really brave or really stupid.

"Fairy Tail," she replied, "They'll never let you get away with this. And if I were you, I'd be watching my back from now on… because the world's strongest Guild will come for you!"

Gajeel's eyes narrowed at the blond haired girl, "So they're gonna come after me, huh?" Then, a wicked, delighted grin took shake on his face. He changed both of his arms into iron-clubs, crossing them in front of him, "Sounds like fun!"

Gajeel then leaped at Lucy, the heel of his boots aimed right for her face.

"Gajeel!" Boze shouted.

"STOP!" Sue yelled.

However, an instant before Gajeel's foot met the Celestial mage's, the floor beneath him erupted in flames. Suddenly, a wall of fire formed between Gajeel and Lucy. Without warning, a pissed off Natsu jumped out of the fire and delivered a wicked haymaker into the iron mage's face.

Gajeel went flying back, but he managed to flip midair and land on his feet. He looked up to see Natsu standing before him; his body was engulfed in flames that were taking the shape of a dragon. The Fire Dragon Slayer let out a long, mighty yell with his arms held up in a 'powered up' fashion.

The black, spiked hair wizard grinned, "So I was right. I knew I smelled him here."

Lucy, meanwhile, smiled in relief, "It's Natsu," She said softly.

"GRAAAHHH!" Natsu bellowed, "GAAAAAJEEEEELLLL!"

* * *

 _With Nero..._

The hunter slid back as a result of the collision with Spectral Bringer and the incoming ethereal energy. Clenching his teeth tightly as he pulled back his right arm, seeing smoke come off the limb, and the pain that laced it; but that didn't mean he was out for the count. Far from it actually, as the hunter suddenly lunged forward, Red Queen humming as the Exceed was pushed to the max. Nero headed right for Jose, intending to use a Streak, but at the last second, the Master of Phantom Lord vanished into thin air, letting the hunter swing at nothing.

Looking around, Nero kept his guard up. So, this guy could teleport like Aria? As the Demon-Hybrid looked around, scanning every bit of the room he was in, Jose appeared on top of a piece of fallen debris, directly behind Nero. A malicious grin on his, the darkness master charged up, along with a dozen violet ghosts and shot a ghostly beam direct at Nero's back.

Nero, who had heard the beam at the last second, rolled to the side, but his shoulder got nicked and caused him to land on his chest, rolling across the floor as he held his left shoulder. Groaning in pain, the hunter was back on his feet. The magic he was using, the energy this guy was firing at him, it really packed a punch, but strangely, he felt it could've been much worse than what he got.

Jose started laughing maniacally as he held out his right hand, shooting a barrage of smaller amethyst blasts at Nero. The hunter, however, leaped into the air, letting the blasts strike the place where he previously had been. While he was still in the air, he fired a dozen shots at Jose, Summoned Swords accompanying the bullets.

The Phantom Lord master vanished within the blink of an eye again, but Nero was beginning to see a pattern forming. However, he was still figuring it out so he wasn't prepared for when Jose suddenly appeared in front of him, his fist wreathed in dark magic. Jose sent a monstrous right hook at Nero's face. The hunter took the blow, which knocked him clean off his feet where he flew across the room before landing on his back but managed to roll back to his feet.

Nero held his jaw, as he let out a hiss of pain. Shaking his head a little, the hunter felt a warm liquid in his mouth, before spitting it out, taking immediate notice of the blood that stained the ground. Pain laced his jaw, but it was numbing already; however, the fact still stands that whatever magic Jose was using against him, it was sapping away his strength. Jose, standing on the other side of the room, smirked at his adversary who was clearly in pain.

"Pity," Jose commented snidely, "I was expecting more of a challenge from you, dear Demon-Slayer mage. Do pray tell, why don't you simply use that power you have? I bet you could hold your own against me then."

"Like hell, I'd give you the satisfaction of that," snapped Nero, as he stood up, using Red Queen as a support to keep himself steady, "and I don't need Yamato to beat your sorry ass!"

"Strong words. I'm eager to see if you can back them up!" Jose roared, holding out his hand and firing another round of his Dark Beams.

"Okay," said Nero as he readied himself, as the small amethyst projectiles flew towards him, _"Take your time!"_

As Nero said that, he threw out his hands to both sides, Devil Bringer lit up brightly as the world adopted a negative effect. The projectiles from Jose slowed down, almost stopping entirely. Using the Quicksilver trick, Nero charged right towards Jose, dodging the slow-moving blasts until the hunter was right in front of the Phantom Lord Master.

Jumping into the air, Nero slammed both feet into Jose's face, throwing the man off his feet. While in Quicksilver, Nero retains all his speed while in normal time, he looks to be traveling faster than the mortal eye can see. As a result of the speed, the blow Jose took was so powerful that he was sent flying back where he smashed into the stone wall located directly behind him. The impact he suffered caused the wall to collapse onto the man, burying him under the rubble. As the Quicksilver's effects subsided, Nero kept his focus on the pile, waiting for Jose to get up, because he knows, that he will get up.

Then, from the pile of debris, deadly purple light illuminated in-between the cracks of the rubble. A short moment later, an explosion of dark amethyst energy blew the debris away. Standing there was Jose, though his entire form was consumed by purple, ghostly flames. The white in his eyes had turned pitch black while his pupils were little silver dots. A little trickle of blood was running out from Jose's nose, and his expression displayed pure rage.

"YOU'VE JUST MADE A BIG MISTAKE, YOU WORTHLESS BRAT!" the Phantom master bellowed.

"I've made plenty of mistakes," retorted Nero, resting Red Queen on his shoulder, keeping a neutral expression, "but kicking your ass, knocking you down a couple notches, isn't one of them."

In response, Jose growled savagely and swiped his hand in an arc motion. As a result, a wave of red energy was discharged at Nero; but his attack missed as the demon hunter skillfully dodged the wave, letting it pass by harmlessly. Snarling in rage, the master of Phantom Lord held out his hands and fired several Dark Beams at the Demon Hunter.

Nero easily dodged the attacks, ducking and dodging under blasts of energy projectiles, even sliding underneath multiple blasts to get right in close. Once in close, Nero began a savage attack with Red Queen. Jose, unprepared for the hunter to make this move, couldn't defend himself properly as Nero hacked and swung his sword at him, the blade slicing through his clothing and into his skin.

Each time the blade connected, Jose let out a pained yell as Nero pushed on. The power of the Exceed, coupled with Nero's own strength knocked the master back. The pummeling he received caused immense amounts of pain, and if it weren't for his incredible durability and magical strength, he would've been sliced in two, or bisected by Red Queen.

After a few more strikes, Nero performed a High Roller, using the full power of the Exceed system, performing three merciless slashes, dragging his sword through the ground before the last strike sent Jose flying back. The master rolled across the ground a few yards before coming to a stop on his stomach.

Pushing himself to his hands and feet, opened his eyes and glared at Nero who was stalking towards him. In a swift motion, he held out his hands and fired mauve, ghostly blasts out from his fingertips. Nero was blasted back by the barrage of Dark Beams but managed to use Red Queen and Devil Bringer to block the attack, but was still sent sliding back about four yards.

The Phantom master yelled as he shot out a purplish-black, ethereal tornado from his hands. Nero got caught in the hellish tornado, letting a cry of pain before he managed to use Hell Bound, sending Spectral Bringer at a piece of debris where its claws dug into the stone, to pull himself out and to safety. Once he was out of the tornado, Nero hit the floor but managed to roll with the impact to get back to his feet.

Nero knew that Jose was powerful from what he heard, but seriously, no wonder he was made one of the Ten Wizard Saints.

"At least I'm getting a workout from this," quipped Nero as he spits out some blood and pushed himself up, placing Red Queen on his back.

Jose lifted a brow, scrutinizing this Demon Hunter in disdain, but also, intrigue. Just how difficult was it to defeat one Demon-Slayer?

"You gonna stand there staring at me, or," taunted Nero, performing a few punches, like he was boxing to mock Jose, "are you going to save me the trouble of putting you through hell by surrendering?"

Jose sneered, a sickening grin spreading over his face, "What?! You think I would surrender to a freak like yourself? NEVER!" The master of Phantom Lord let out a war cry as he lunged at Nero, his fist wreathed with dark magic.

Nero smirked, dodging the punch that was aimed for his head by dashing backward, then grabbed Red Queen and performed his Shuffle move, slashing the sword across Jose's chest. The master went flying back and slammed into another wall.

The Phantom ruler quickly got up; the darkness magic around him erupting around his body as his power increased. He was through wasting time against this boy! He was one of the Ten Wizard Saints! He would not tolerate this insult!

"DIE YOU FAIRY SCUM!" He roared violently. He then held out his hands and fired countless darkness blasts at Nero.

Nero swung out Devil Bringer, summoning six Summoned Swords, but changed things up a little. Instead of having them shot at Jose, he maneuvered them so that they were spinning around him, creating a sort of barrier. The blades were spinning fast enough and provided enough cover to create a barrier against Jose's attacks. When Jose finally held off his Dark Beam, Nero used it as an opening and sent Spectral Bringer right at Jose. The ethereal hand grabbed the master by the face and Nero pulled himself in.

Once in close, he swung the ethereal appendage up and caught the wizard in a buster. Slamming him back down, Jose stumbled onto his feet, but Nero wasn't about to let him go. Nero sent a straight left to Jose's jaw, followed by a right uppercut. Spinning around, he performed a roundhouse kick, his heel slamming into the master's jaw. Without letting him go, Nero began to perform several brutal left and right hooks, staggering the Wizard Saint each time before jumping up slightly and slamming his boot directly into his stomach.

Jose was knocked back several yards where he slammed into another wall, cracking it in dozens of places before he fell to his stomach.

"You brought this on yourself, Jose," stated Nero as he made his way towards the Phantom Lord Master.

Jose got his hands underneath him and pushed himself up, his eyes locking onto the approaching demon hunter with a wrathful glare. He was in pain, the hunter was certain of that. The pain he felt from being struck so hard and fast was something in itself, but what he just endured was much, much stronger.

A second later, Jose tilted his head back, letting out a raged induced cry. an eerie purple energy coursed across his body for a second, before it became more intense and much stronger. Then, purple lighting discharged from Jose's body and went right at Nero. The Hunter raised Devil Bringer in the nick of time to block most of the blast, but other bolts of lightning hit him, causing the hunter to slide back as he grunted in pain.

Jose turned his wrathful glare at the demon hunter, "I've had enough of these games!" he shouted.

Without warning, purple, ghost shaped tendrils shot out from a dark amethyst magical circle in front of Jose's hand. Nero was taken off-guard, but barely dodged the first tendrils, but several other ghostly tentacles wrapped around his body. When the hunter tried to break free from the magic restraining him, the ethereal tendrils became tighter and gave the demon hunter a powerful dose of agony. Nero wasn't able to contain the need to let out a cry of pain, the agony he was enduring was almost unbearable. Keyword, almost.

The Phantom master smiled in wicked pleasure, "Yes. It hurts doesn't it, Sparda. This is my Shade Entangle. The more you struggle, the stronger the grip becomes, and the more pain you receive."

To show that was true, crimson lighting danced around the ghostly tentacles, electrifying Nero, causing even more pain.

Jose sneered as he tortured his victim; the screams were like music to his ears.

He tapped a finger to his chin in thought, studying the demon-hybrid, "Hmm, you, Nero Sparda, are powerful. I'd even say that you're even more powerful than Titania, Laxus, and Mystogan. I'm impressed," conceded the master of Phantom Lord, mockingly praising the hunter, "You're the first one who's ever lasted this long against me in battle, and you even made me feel pain. I won't lie, that, in itself is quite a feat."

Jose paused for a second, like he was contemplating what he was gonna say next, before he leveled his calm, smug expression at Nero's restrained and withering body, "But yah know what really burns me about Fairy Tail?" he asked rhetorically, "That powerful wizards like you align yourself to Makarov!"

Nero cried out in pain, the hold on his body tightening as his agony increased.

"Since you can't be tempted to join Phantom Lord, there's only one solution," Jose's black eyes widened in malign glee, "To kill you!"

The demon hybrid let out another agonized cry, the tendrils wrapping around his body even tighter, the pain increasing every second he was trapped in the spell. It hurt. It hurt so much, Nero was unable to properly focus his power to begin to free himself. He tried reaching for either Blue Rose or Red Queen, but his arms were pinned down to his sides.

Some seconds passed as the relentless pain continued across Nero's body. Stubbornly, he kept trying to reach for his weapons, putting as much strength as he could, but his arms wouldn't budge and, true to Jose's description of the spell, the more he tried to free himself, the more pain he would endure.

 _'Is this how it ends?'_ thought Nero, wondering if this was how he was going to die. Not by a demon, but by an arrogant wizard from another world? Guess some things are not as they seem.

Suddenly, the pain he was experiencing, the resistance he was facing when moving his arms, even the ghostly tendrils holding him vanished. The second they did, Nero fell to his hands and knees, coughing as he lost his concentration. Lifting his head up, he was surprised to see that Jose had somehow been blown back into a wall, smashing into it, causing debris to rain down on top of him.

"What the hell?" rasped Nero in confusion. What just happened? Did someone...

The demon hunter got his answer when he felt something land beside him. Turning around, he looked up and saw Erza, wearing her Black Wing Armor, sword grasped tightly in her hands.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what emotion Erza was predominantly experiencing, and that emotion was anger. Actually, scratch that, she was royaly pissed off. But her expression softened when she turned her gaze to Nero and knelt by him.

"Nero," she spoke, checking over him to see if there were any injuries he suffered, "are you alright."

Nero let out a groan as he stood up, rolling his shoulder as some wounds he had been dealt were steadily healing themselves, "Worse for wear," he answered before turning to Erza, "but still in the fight. Thanks by the way. But kinda wondering what you're doing here, though not to say I don't appreciate that you are."

"I got a very uneasy feeling that I couldn't ignore." She answered. Erza turned her sights to the pile of debris on top of Jose. "And it seems my gut was right."

All of a sudden, a brilliant explosion of darkness magic exploded out from the rubble. In its wake was a furious Jose. He turned his creepy, black eyes to Nero and then finally to Erza.

His onyx eyes narrowed in disdain, "Titania Erza. I was hoping you would join this little fight of ours. Now I get to wipe out two of Makarov's most powerful wizards at once!"

"Guy packs a punch...a really big punch," cautioned Nero as he and Erza took stances, ready to defend themselves and hold their ground, "Any ideas on how to beat him?"

Titania was silent as she contemplated on a possible strategy to fight Jose. She knew he was very powerful. Hell, he was on par with Makarov. Nonetheless, she knew that Nero and herself were both powerful as well, but not strong enough to take him on alone. There was only one option.

"He's just as powerful as Master Makarov," Erza said, "The only chance we have of defeating him is to fight him together."

"Right," nodded Nero, though he personally would've liked to fight Jose on his own, if it was out of pride or just because he didn't want anyone else to get hurt, he wasn't arrogant enough or stupid enough to turn down help. He knew damn well that if he fought Jose by himself, a lot of things could get broken or worse, one of his friends could end up getting killed in the crossfire. Besides, doubling up with Erza definitely had a higher chance of winning, "In that case, let's get to work."

"Killing you two will bring me so much pleasure!" Jose jeered manically as he lit up his hands with darkness magic and fired another ethereal tornado at the duo.

Nero immediately placed himself in front of Erza, bringing out six Summoned Swords and maneuvered them in front to act as a barrier. The whirlwind collided with the blades and was deflected. But the force of the attack pushed Nero back a couple yards.

As soon as Jose ceased his attack, an eyebrow lifted when he saw that a certain armor-shifting wizard was missing.

 _'Now where did Miss Titania go?'_ Jose mused.

Titania made her presence known when she flew at the darkness wizard and attempted to slash him. Master Jose, however, saw this coming and simply sidestepped the attack.

He grinned sinisterly, _'Ah…there she is.'_

Erza slashed at him relentlessly, trying to land a blow, but Jose avoided them with ease. When she lunged at him, Jose grabbed Erza's forearm, spun around and threw her across the room. In midair, she corrected herself and landed on her feet.

Now that Erza was clear, Nero drew Blue Rose, channeling power from Devil Bringer into the firearm, he took aim at Jose and fired a very powerful shot. As soon as the gun went off, six Summoned Swords appeared and followed one after the other. The bullet struck Jose in the shoulder, causing the master to stagger and spin around to form a shield, blocking the sword which shattered when they collided.

"You're magic is-" whatever Jose wanted to say was cut off when the initial shot hit him suddenly exploded, blasting him away into the closest wall. The impact with the wall caused stones to fall and a debris cloud to form around the darkness mage, blocking Nero and Erza's sight of Jose.

Nero was anticipating for the mage to suddenly explode out of the smoke screen, thoroughly pissed and ready to murder them, but he never came. Instead, Nero was more or less taken off guard when the sadist suddenly appeared behind him. Nero had only seconds to react and bring up Devil Bringer to block the powerful punch laced with magic that was aimed at his head. Jose's fist collided with Nero's arm, but instead of the Hunter being knocked back, Jose was thrown away, slamming into a wall where he bounced off and landed in a heap on his stomach.

"What?!" demanded Jose, confused and enraged that his attack literally did nothing against the Fairy Tail brat. He looked at Nero's arm and saw that it looked...wrong. Disfigured, glowing, reptilian... _demonic_.

However, before Jose could contemplate any longer on Nero's physiology, he dodged what would've been a lethal swipe from Erza.

Titania then slashed vertically but Jose simply dodged that blow as well, a confident, smug grin on his face. This only enraged Erza more as she slashed countless times at Jose, in different patterns, all within a blink of an eye. Amazingly, their enemy evaded every attack.

Jose then went on the offensive, holding out his hand and flicking his finger at Erza. The result was a small but powerful projectile of violent energy smacking into her, which sent her flying backward and into a pile of rubble.

Nero growled as he charged at Erza, having seen her get blown back. Suffice to say, he was left shocked to see Jose had simply flicked her away like a bug. Nero glared at the darkness mage as he ran and threw out Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer heading right towards the man.

However, Jose dodged the attack by leaping into the air, as he had done with Erza, but Nero was expecting that to happen. Leaping into the air himself, revving the Exceed to full, the hunter dashed in the air right at Jose to perform an EX Calibur. The blade of Red Queen slammed right into the man's chest, knocking him back. As Jose flew back, Nero sent out Spectral Bringer again, this time catching him by the face so that he could bring the master back into a Buster. While still in the air, Nero wrapped his arms around the Phantom Lord Master's midsection and performed an elevated suplex.

Not letting up, when Nero released him, he adjusted himself so that when Jose tried getting up, he took a dropkick to the face, courtesy of the hunter.

Phantom Lord's master got to his knees and scowled at his opponent. The darkness mage let out a fierce cry as he shot out an amethyst tendril of ghosts from his magical seal. Nero wasn't quick enough to avoid getting caught by a ghostly hand and was tossed into Erza, who was just getting back to her feet from the rubble.

Jose put his hands behind his back and smirked, "Hmph…you two are quite impressive, power-wise. But your methods of attacks are futile against me."

Titania and the Demon Hunter shakily got up and glared daggers at Jose. Both were keen enough to know that what they were doing wasn't going to work. They had to try something else.

"Guy's right, Erza," whispered Nero to Erza, "we're getting our asses kicked. We need to try something else. Something he would never expect."

Erza took a stance and held her sword ready for a possible attack from Jose, "I agree, but what? His powers are very strong."

Nero muttered something uninterpretable to himself as his mind began working. So far, he had noticed that most of Jose's offense was based on firing darkness magic whether in the form of twisters, lightning, bullets, or ghosts. The most fearful he had seen so far was that Shade Entangle. He knew that if he and Erza got caught in that, they were surely doomed.

Well, that is unless he...

 _'You know you can't win without it_ _,'_ stated a raspy voice within Nero's mind, the hunter freezing for a fraction of a second, _'Power is everything. Without it, you can not protect anything-'_

"Let alone yourself," muttered Nero, as he knew now what to do.

"Nero?" whispered Erza, giving the hunter a look of concern.

"Listen, I've got an idea," whispered the demon hybrid, as he rolled the wrist of Devil Bringer around. He knew he had to up his game, but what he was doing was stupid, reckless, dangerous, and insane. Which means that it was likely his best bet, "but whatever happens, I need you to trust me on this. No matter what."

"What are you saying?" asked Erza.

"Sharing final words with each other?" mocked Jose, cutting in on the two's conversation, "how touching."

"Oh, we weren't sharing final words, just talking about the pitiful excuse you call your guild," retorted Nero, standing up, rolling Devil Bringer around as it began to glow faintly.

"What!?" demanded Jose, losing his sense of humor in a nanosecond.

"Nero, what are you-," began Titania, but Nero continued like hadn't been interrupted.

"You make all these statements, about how Phantom Lord is so much more powerful than Fairy Tail, but let's do a quick recall; you attacked our guild when nobody was there, attacked three of our wizards in an ambush in contrast to us, assaulting your guild head on and would've won if it weren't for Aria," jeered the hunter, seeing that he was easily getting underneath Jose's skin, taunting his power and guild, "speaking of mister blowhard, how did feel to know that your supposedly strongest mage went down with barely a fight?"

Jose was glaring in total fury at Nero. How dare he mock him and his guild!

"I WILL END YOU!" bellowed Jose as he charged darkness magic into his fist, before lunging at Nero. Roaring in fury as he closed the distance between them in a second.

"Nero!" cried out Erza, trying to warn Nero to get out of the way, but then something happened. Something that shocked both her and Jose. Nero simply held out his right hand, Devil Bringer glowing brightly. Jose's fist collided with the open palm, resulting in a powerful shockwave, however, the Demon Hunter didn't budge a bit as he caught Phantom Lord master's fist with one hand.

Jose stared at Nero in shock. Completely confused as to how he was able to stop his attack so easily. However, his shock only amplified as he saw the demon hunter's appendage up close but specifically, how it glowed and...was absorbing his power!

"Word of advice, something I also gave Aria, but he didn't listen to it," mocked Nero as he absorbed enough of Jose's magic into Devil Bringer, though he would admit, it felt wrong, like some discomfort when it happened, but easily shoved Jose back, "magic isn't that effective against demons."

Jose got over his shock and his smile returned as he lifted a brow in interest, "So you're not human, are you? Well, guess that gives more of a reason to break you!"

The master of Phantom Lord held out his hand and discharged a huge, purple lightning bolt at Nero. Erza was about to warn him but was shocked yet again when Nero backhanded the blast and with Devil Bringer.

"Didn't I just tell you?" demanded Nero, raising an eyebrow, "magic isn't going to cut it with me."

Nero suddenly lunged forward faster than Jose could anticipate, summoning Spectral Bringer in the process and smashed the ethereal appendage directly into him. The force of which sent him careening back into a pile of fallen roof rubble.

Nero turned back to Erza, the redhead that was currently looking at him with a little awe, "I take him on directly while you attack when his back is turned. You got it?"

Usually, she would be the one giving the orders; however, she knew now was not the time. Besides, Nero was very capable of leadership and he had a good grasp of battle and fighting. From what he had told her during their free time before this Phantom Lord incident, he had defeated dozens of demons and taken on threats far larger than anything they had seen yet. Even now Erza still found that to be amazing.

When Jose arose from the rubble, his black, deathly eyes were locked onto the duo, "You're full of surprises, aren't you?! I'll admit I've never been in a fight this exciting before," A sadistic grin grew on his black lips, "After I finish you two off, I'll hang up your cadavers for all of your fellow guildmates to see. They'll have no choice but to surrender then!"

The demon hunter and armor switching knight looked away from each other to the Phantom Lord Master. Each sending their own glare at the Phantom Ruler.

"Our guild will never surrender to a despicable man like you!" Erza snarled.

"Like what the lady said," added Nero, unsheathing Red Queen, and revved the Exceed, "We'd sooner kill ourselves than lose to you."

"Action speaks louder than words!" Jose roared as he held out a hand and shot a barrage of Dark Beams at his opponents.

Erza grabbed Nero by his shoulders and took to the air to avoid the projectiles, knowing that Nero couldn't fly. Seeing them take off, Jose soon quickly followed them, Nero held out Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer appeared in front of them, the ethereal hand completely stretch open and blocked the blasts.

"At least we agree on something," smirked the Demon Hunter in a sassy matter.

Taking out Blue Rose, Nero fired dozens of bullets at the darkness wizard. Though Jose was quick enough to elude the attacks but was taken off guard when Nero suddenly used Spectral Bringer to punch the dark wizard. Knocking him down to the ground.

"Erza drop me!" ordered Nero.

Without arguing, Titania did just that, letting the demon hunter fall back to the ground. Once back on the ground, Nero holstered Blue Rose and unsheathed Red Queen. He then charged right towards Jose, slashing at him. Though Jose was quick enough to elude the attacks, he was distracted long enough for Titania to soar toward him and deliver a nice swipe diagonally across Jose's chest. Phantom's master cried out in pain as he slid back a few meters. A big gash went diagonally across Jose's blue coat and into his skin, a little blood was trickling from his injury.

His black eyes widened. She'd actually landed a blow on him? He clenched his teeth, his anger reaching the boiling point. He aimed a fierce glare at Titania and Nero, who were both either flying or charging towards him. Suddenly, a dark amethyst circle appeared in front of Jose. Out from the seal, several purple, jellyfish-like ghosts shot out and hit the duo before they realized it. Both crashed into the wall and landed on their feet, grunting as they did so.

They looked up and were a bit startled to see purplish-black energy coursing all around his body, but this time it looked far more intense. His dark, sickening eyes were honed in on them. Nevertheless, Nero and Erza took battle stances besides each other, ready to engage Jose once more.

* * *

 ** _Phantom Lord Headquarters, Command Center_**

Back in the command center, a group of Phantom Lord wizards all looked on in shock at the two Dragon Slayers staring at each other, their main focus being on Natsu who was shrouded in flames.

Gajeel chuckled, "Guess it's not too hard to catch a Salamander if you use the right bait."

"Unlike you Phantom creeps, I watch out for my friends!" Natsu retorted angrily, "I won't let you lay a hand on her!"

Lucy smiled warmly, touched by her friend's declaration. "Natsu," she whispered.

Without looking back, Natsu warned, "Stay back. This could get ugly."

"Uh…Gajeel?" Boze said warily.

"This one's mine," With a wicked grin, Gajeel leaped at Natsu and turned his arm into an iron-club, extending it out to attack Natsu.

"OH YEAH!" Natsu yelled as he caught Gajeel's club, spun around, and threw him into a wall.

Gajeel made sure to hit the wall with his feet, and held up his arm in time to block a powerful, flaming punch from Natsu. The blow was so strong that the stone walls tumbled apart behind Gajeel as a cloud of ash expanded through the room.

The Phantom mages cried out in fear as they ran away from the falling debris, "WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!" a terrified Phantom wizard cried.

Gajeel and Natsu both jumped out of the ash cloud, the latter's fist engulfed in flames. The Iron Dragon Slayer was unprepared as Natsu delivered a nasty right hook into his face. Phantom Lord's Dragon Slayer went flying back until he crashed into the wall on the opposite side of the room.

The wall had dented inward, Gajeel lying in the center. He rubbed his chin and frowned. He was inwardly impressed and surprised that Salamander had managed to hurt him. Gajeel looked up in time to see Natsu jumping at him; his feet covered in fire.

 **"Fire Dragon Talon!"** Natsu roared.

Gajeel brought up his iron-club arm to block the attack. This resulted in an outburst of smoke and fire that sent Natsu careening backward.

Lucy, meanwhile, watched the battle with concern and surprise. She couldn't believe how violent Natsu was against Gajeel. The Celestial wizard was brought out of her musings when Happy walked up to her in worry.

"Hey, are you alright?" the blue cat asked.

Lucy turned to him and smiled, "Happy," She then turned her attention back to Natsu, who was walking out of a dust cloud, an enraged scowl on his face. This startled her slightly, for she had never seen Natsu this angry before, "I've never seen Natsu like this."

"Aye," Happy replied, "He's really fired up now. I wouldn't wanna be that other guy."

The blond mage gulped and nodded her head in agreement.

Gajeel popped his neck and smirked, "For being Fairy scum you sure are cocky."

"You're the scum here, buddy!" countered Natsu, "As payback for what you did to Lucy, I'm gonna use my firepower to melt your ugly iron face!"

The iron mage chuckled, a sadistic smile on his face, "Sounds like fun. So give it a shot!"

The two Dragon Slayers yelled as they charged at one another. Gajeel's right arm was morphed into an iron-club whilst Natsu's hands were still covered in flames. They sent right hooks at one another; however, both were able to dodge them. Gajeel quickly turned around and extended his club at Natsu's feet. He was able to jump over the attack and lunge himself back at his opponent.

However, Gajeel swiftly changed his iron-club into a long, sharp black blade and swiped it at Natsu, forcing him to jump back. Natsu wiped his mouth of blood as he glared back at the other Dragon Slayer.

"That's a pretty gnarly toy you got there," Natsu commented.

Suddenly, spikes began to grow out from the edges of the blade, which gave it the appearance of deadly looking saw blade.

"This is the Iron Dragon Sword. Anything it touches is cut to shreds!" Gajeel responded. Without warning, the spikes started to spin around the blade much like a chainsaw, "I thought I'd give you an up close and personal demonstration!"

"Ooh, I'm so scared!" Natsu retorted, unafraid of Gajeel's chainsaw-like sword.

Lucy and Happy, however, were both startled to see Gajeel's lethal weapon, "How is he doing that?!" the former screamed.

"It's Iron Dragon Slayer magic!" Happy answered fearfully.

The Black Steel laughed manically as he leaped high toward Natsu, his sword reared back to its zenith. Natsu jumped back as Gajeel's blade struck the floor. The force of the blade created a large crevice in the floor, knocking over various Phantom mages in the process. Gajeel swiped his blade at the floor again, only for Natsu to dodge the attack once more.

"Not so cocky now! Are yah kid!?" Gajeel mocked as he swiped at Natsu, but the fire mage managed to evade each attack, "I think you're scared!"

The Iron Dragon Slayer slashed left and right and then vertical, forcing Natsu to jump back as he slid across the floor.

"I'll give you credit for being such a nimble little Fairy," remarked Gajeel.

"You're no slouch yourself," Natsu growled.

Gajeel converted his sword back into his normal arm, grinning wickedly at his adversary, "But we still gotta score to settle from the other day; no time like the present, wouldn't you agree?"

Natsu wiped his mouth and scowled. "Let's go, rivet face! I'm all fired up now!"

All of a sudden, a bright mint green magical seal appeared under Gajeel's feet; however, it was the next development that really shocked the wizards watching the fight. Gajeel's entire body was suddenly coated in thick, iron reptilian scales, sharp talons grew from his fingertips and toes, and his teeth became more serrated.

"Are ya ready, Fairy?" Gajeel quickly jumped at Natsu with his fist reared back, **"Iron Dragon Hard Fist!"**

Natsu held up his forearm to block the blow, but the strength behind the punch sent Natsu flying back and he crashed into a wall. Gajeel's eyes glowed red as he chuckled maliciously, "Hearing you hit that wall was like music to my ears."

Natsu was on a knee, cringing in pain as he held his injured left arm where Gajeel had left a nasty blue and purple bruise.

Lucy placed her hands over her mouth, looking on in worry and fear for Natsu, "He took Natsu down with just one hit," She mumbled.

"That's because those scales on his body are as hard as steel," Happy explained.

Gajeel hit Natsu with an uppercut and then launched a powerful right hook that sent him careening back. Natsu got back up and charged at the iron mage once more. However, Gajeel lifted up his leg to kick Natsu, but the fire wizard managed to duck under the attack. Nevertheless, the strength behind his kick created a shockwave that formed a crevice in the floor and a strong gale in addition.

Lucy's hair went flying back as Happy held onto her shoulders to keep from being blown back, "Is there really that much wind coming from his kick?"

"He's twice as strong now that he's covered in those dragon scales!" Happy cried.

Natsu ignited his fist and punched Gajeel in the chin. Shockingly, the iron wizard was unaffected by the blow as he smirked at Natsu.

"Aw…poor little Fairy. That had to hurt, huh?" The Iron Dragon Slayer jeered, "Hate to break it to yah but your puny hand can't scratch this steel!"

Natsu clenched his teeth while his eyes widened. But the Fire Dragon Slayer finally staggered back and let out a loud, pain-filled yell.

"He's got indestructible armor!" Lucy exclaimed in shock.

"Natsu!" Happy cried.

Natsu was rolling back and forth across the floor, yelling and holding his injured hand, "Oh, I'm fine! This doesn't hurt at all! Nope! Not at all!" he lied.

Lucy sweatdropped, "Yeah…(right.)"

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"CUT THE ACT, PUNK!" Gajeel yelled as he head-butted Natsu, which slammed him into the ground, "You just don't want your friends to see you cry like a baby!" He then punched the floor, and the force from the attack sent Natsu flying back.

Natsu, although, managed to correct himself in midair, landing on his feet and sliding back a few meters, "Alright, you walking garbage can, time to blow you away!"

He slammed his fists together, which ignited his flames and summoned a fiery magic circle with the head of a horned dragon in the center. Suddenly, Natsu took a deep breath as his cheeks puffed out wide, **"Fire Dragon…"**

Gajeel inhaled deeply as well, letting his cheeks expand, **"Iron Dragon…"**

Both Dragon Slayers put both hands over their mouths like trumpeters as they shouted simultaneously, **"ROAR!"**

A blast of iron particles shot out from Gajeel's mouth whilst a torrent of flames shot out from Natsu's. When the two breath attacks met, the result was a torrent of wind that sent the Phantom mages, Lucy, and Happy flying back. After a moment, the outburst of magical energy caused a section of wall to explode.

When the commotion ceased, the room was left in ruin as dust clouded the air. Gajeel and Natsu were both standing in the large gaping hole that their attacks had made.

"Looks like there are some pretty big differences between Iron and Fire Dragon Slayers, huh Salamander?" Gajeel smiled sadistically. The front of his tunic was shredded, revealing his hard iron abs, "You can shower me with flames until you run out of hot air, but it's not gonna crack my armor. On the other hand, my iron breath attacks will cut you to shreds!"

Lucy, who was leaning against a wall, whispered, "Natsu"

"C'mon! Take him!" Happy encouraged his partner.

Natsu lifted his head, his gray eyes honed in on the iron mage. But to Gajeel's confusion, a smirk appeared on Natsu's face, "I can't crack your armor, huh? You sure you're not feeling a draft, buddy?"

Suddenly, the iron scales on the left side of Gajeel's face cracked, which made the iron wizard's eyes widen in shock.

"He did it." Lucy smiled.

"Look, I don't just breathe regular old fire. My Fire Dragon Roar can destroy anything it touches!" Natsu took off his black and gold vest and tossed it aside, showing off his well-toned upper body. Suddenly, a fiery magical circle appeared under Natsu's feet as his body was engulfed in an inferno, "I think it's time we stop playing around! It's time to get to the real fight! I'm gonna shatter you into a million pieces!"

Gajeel's body was shrouded in a mint green light as he cackled maniacally, "LET'S GO!"

"Black Steel, I'm ready when you are." Natsu snarled.

"Sky's not big enough for two dragons, kid." Gajeel grinned. "So I'm just gonna have to take you down, Salamander!"

Lucy held her hand that had the Fairy Tail mark stamped on it over her chest, lightly trembling in nervousness, "Natsu."

* * *

 _ **Fairy Tail Guild, Courtyard**_

As all this was happening, back at the Fairy Tail Courtyard, all the Phantom soldiers began to gather above the Fairy Tail wizards. They swirled together to form a humungous black and purple ball with two blood red eyes and eight long black arms with large hands.

"That thing's got creepy hands," Laki commented.

"That's the least of our worries!" Wakaba replied.

"Yeah, this is bad," Macao added.

The gigantic onyx ball hovered closer to the Guild Hall, lifted up its arms, and then smashed them into the roof. The Fairy Tail mages could only watch in horror as the monster-sphere continued punching the building.

"That thing's trying to tear down our Guild Hall!" Cana exclaimed in panic.

"But Nero just fixed it!" Nab remarked.

The mages directed their attacks at the large black ball; however, they could do nothing to stop their enemy as it tore down the Guild Hall.

* * *

 _ **Phantom Lord Headquarters, Command Center**_

Natsu and Gajeel let out battle cries as they punched each other in the face. An explosion of iron particles, fire, and dust shook the room. The roof collapsed as both Dragon Slayers flew out of the building and high into the sky. After getting a hundred feet over the Giant, Natsu and Gajeel stopped and floated in midair. The Phantom mages, Lucy, and Happy were shocked to see that they were flying.

The iron and fire wizards traded punch after punch. Each time one struck the other, it created an energy outburst similar to fireworks. A moment later, the two descended back down and landed on the opposite end of the Giant's horned head. Crouching low, both Dragon Slayers leaped at one another until their foreheads collided with a loud smack; however, neither appeared to be injured.

After trading a few punches, they simultaneously kicked one another in the leg. The force from the blow caused the horn on the Giant's head to break off and fall into the command center. Lucy and Happy cried out as they dived to the floor.

"Now we gotta get outta here!" Lucy screamed.

As the dust settled once more, standing by the giant horn in the middle of the room was Gajeel and Natsu. Both of them were a few meters apart, both panting crazily. A few sweat drops streamed down Natsu's face as he took a moment to catch his breath.

However, he was caught off guard when Gajeel picked up a few pieces of iron and began to eat them, "What? HEY, THAT'S NOT FAIR, MAN! YOU'RE EATING?"

Gajeel shrugged nonchalantly, and with a full mouth, he said, "So what?"

"I can't believe he actually eats iron!" Lucy commented.

"I wonder if it tastes any good," Happy wondered with a thoughtful expression.

After swallowing the iron fragments, Gajeel smiled widely, "Now I gotta fire in _my_ belly."

"HEY! That's my line, pal!" yelled Natsu.

Without warning, Gajeel let out a long, prolonged yell as his body flared with a brilliant mint green light. The power around him was increasing exponentially.

"Hang on! Where's all that energy coming from?" Lucy inquired apprehensively.

"It's because he ate all that iron," Happy answered, "When Dragon Slayers eat their element they replenish their magical energy and increase their power."

Lucy then became more serious, "So Natsu needs to eat fire." She realized.

"That would help but he can't eat his own fire. It needs to come from an outside source." Happy mentioned.

"Yeah, that's right. But how can we make that happen?" the Celestial mage asked.

"Say goodnight Fairy!" Gajeel summoned a magical circle as he straightened out his arm and aimed it at Natsu, **"Iron Dragon Lance…Demon Claw!"**

Suddenly, a volley of sharp iron projectiles fired from Gajeel's magic seal and bombarded Natsu. Natsu cried out in agony as the iron lances struck his body.

Lucy quickly dug around in her skirt pockets, frantically searching for her keys. "C'mon fire, fire, fire! Do I have any kind of fire spirit?" Her brown eyes went wide when she remembered getting attacked by Juvia and Sol, "Oh yeah, that's right. I lost my keys when I was attacked."

Lucy paused when she saw Natsu get blown back and hit the floor hard. She then pulled out a golden key with a green anchor emblem, "The only key I have is Sagittarius, but we haven't worked out a contract yet."

After seeing her pink haired friend get hit again, her determination grew, "But I don't care! This is the only chance we've got right now."

* * *

 _ **Fairy Tail Guild, Courtyard**_

The wizards of Fairy Tail continued attacking the giant ball monster; nevertheless, it was to no avail. It seemed that the phantom sphere was immune to their magical attacks. It continued punching the Guild Hall with its multiple arms, destroying it further with each hit.

Cana cried out, wanting to charge at the monster; however, Macao was holding her back, "No! Let me go!" she yelled desperately.

"There's nothing you can do!" Macao stated.

"Erza trusted me to protect the Guild Hall. I can't sit by and let it get destroyed!" Cana protested.

Nonetheless, Macao still held her tight and prevented her from charging in blindly.

* * *

 _ **Phantom Lord Head Quarters, Control Center**_

Natsu weakly stood back up. His energy levels were very low whilst Gajeel's was still high after consuming that iron. Natsu, who at first was giving Gajeel a fair fight, was now getting his butt whooped.

Lucy held out her key and chanted, "I call upon thee in the World of the Celestial Spirits! I beckon you to my side at once! Pass through the Gate!" All of a sudden, a golden light flared from beneath the blond mage's feet. **"Open, Gate of the Archer: Sagittarius!"**

With a sound similar to a bell, a tall man in a brown, anthropomorphic horse costume appeared. He held a bow and had a quill full of arrows strapped to his back. He also wore a white shirt, a green vest over it, and red and white striped pants.

"Well howdy do, my lady." Sagittarius greeted, saluting Lucy while doing so.

"Whoa!" Lucy exclaimed. "That really worked!"

"What's with the horse costume?!" Happy asked.

"Look I'll explain later, but can you shoot fire?" Lucy demanded.

"No, but I do have a profession in archery. Yes, indeed." The horse-man replied as he saluted the air.

Lucy and Happy's expressions fell. "Oh great…" she mumbled.

"Who does he think he's saluting over there?" Happy inquired.

They were brought out of their conversation as Natsu cautioned, "Lucy, you guys better stay out of the way."

Digging deep into his reserves, Natsu's body was again covered in fire. He crouched low and launched himself at Gajeel, hitting him in the abdomen with his head. **"Fire Dragon Sword Horn!"**

The attack made Gajeel slide back a couple meters; unfortunately for Natsu, his opponent was unharmed. Gajeel sneered. "I gotta fire in my belly, but where's yours?"

He pulled back his arms and struck Natsu in the back with his forearms, promptly slamming him into the floor. Gajeel then grabbed Natsu's head and extended his arm, which dragged Natsu's face across the ground. "Why don't yah eat some iron!"

Lucy covered her mouth, watching the spectacle in horror. Gajeel then threw Natsu across the room, his body landing near the giant hole in the wall.

"I think I've had my fun with you. So get lost, scumbag!" Gajeel yelled.

"He's down," Lucy said in disbelief.

Natsu remained laying on his front side, almost motionless.

"No," the Celestial mage breathed, "Natsu can't lose. Get up."

Gajeel then looked through the hole in the wall to see the giant ball monster in the distance tearing down the Fairy Tail Guild Hall. He smirked in satisfaction.

"Hey, take a look at your Guild Hall. We're doing some redecorating!" mocked Gajeel.

Natsu weakly opened an eye. It soon opened wide in alarm and shock when he witnessed the Guild Hall finally collapse on itself and fall apart. Now, it was nothing more than a pile of broken wood, stone, and roofing materials.

Gajeel tilted back his head and let out a loud, maniac-like cackle.

Like a floodgate being opened, memories of first coming to Fairy Tail, his first encounter with Gray and Erza, Erza teaching him to read and write, and his experiences with Lisanna replayed in Natsu's mind. After that, recent memories of meeting Lucy and then Makarov having his powers drained played through his head.

Amazingly, Natsu steadily got back to his feet, his face etched with stone hard determination. He turned around and, with his arms hanging limply by his sides, he slowly made his way back to Gajeel.

"Natsu," Lucy whimpered, tears trailing down her face, "don't do this. Maybe if I just let them take me, they'll leave you alone."

"Lucy," the blonde mage looked down to see a crying Happy clutching her boot. "You know there's no way he'd let that happen."

The Celestial wizard cried a little before perking up, a determined look cast on her face.

"Your Guild Hall is in shambles. How does it feel to lose?" Gajeel taunted.

Gajeel reared back his arm and struck Natsu with his forearm. As a result, Natsu went careening back until he collided with a large metal contraption. He fell to his knees before collapsing to the floor with a painful groan.

"I'd stay down if I were you," Gajeel advised, though he didn't mean it, "I'm getting really sick of this holding back garbage. And it's not gonna look good for you."

Happy sobbed as he watched his best friend get beaten to a pulp, "Natsu took down Jupiter and he fought a member of the Element 4. He's used up too much magical power. If he could just eat some fire he'd be strong enough to beat this guy!"

Gajeel lifted a weak, beaten Natsu off the floor by his scarf, "So long kid. This is the end of the line," He then shifted his arm into his Iron Dragon Sword.

"Just a moment," Sagittarius intervened. The horse-man pulled an arrow out from his quill and placed it in his bow, preparing to shoot it, "It seems I didn't quite understand what you were asking me earlier. When I arrived you inquired if I could shoot fire. I answered that I did not have the power to do so. However, now I see it's the fire itself that is important. It doesn't matter that I can't produce it myself, just as long as it's produced."

"THIS IS IT SALAMANDER! THIS IS THE END!" Gajeel roared in sinister glee.

Suddenly, bright blue light shined from beneath Sagittarius as he shot a few azure beams of light. The light materialized into arrows and struck the metal machinery behind Natsu and Gajeel. A second later, the contraption ignited into a fireball and consumed the two Dragon Slayers.

"Nice shot!" Happy commended.

"You found a way to create fire," Lucy noted incredulously.

"Depending on the force one applies when shooting an arrow and the trajectory that arrow follows, it's possible to pierce or shatter steel," Sagittarius explained.

Gajeel stepped out of the smoke and conflagration, scowling at Lucy and the others. "That man horse thing is getting in my way!" He yelled.

"Wow! You're like an archery genius, Sagittarius," Lucy smiled as she praised her horse-man spirit.

Sagittarius saluted nothing as he replied, "Well, I aim to please."

"If you wanna salute her, she's over here," Happy deadpanned.

Without warning, the inferno in the room was pulled away and sucked into Natsu's mouth. After inhaling all the flames, Natsu burped a little. He looked back up with a cheeky grin. Now his strength and stamina were revived.

"Just what I needed," He gave Lucy a thumbs-up, "Thanks a million, Lucy."

Lucy smiled in return and gave him a thumbs-up of her own.

Gajeel snarled in rage as he charged at Natsu, "Eat all the fire you want, but you're still not gonna beat me!"

As Gajeel encroached closer with his iron fist, Natsu turned around at the last moment and sent a wicked, flaming uppercut into Gajeel's chin. The blast sent the iron mage careening back until he crashed into the Giant's horn in the middle of the room. The impact cracked the metal in the process.

Natsu clenched his fist, feeling the anger within him boil high, "Levy, Droy, Jet, Lucy, Gramps, all my friends, my guild, Fairy Tail."

Gajeel jumped to the ground as he quickly recovered, **"Iron Dragon Roar!"**

A twister of iron particles fired from Gajeel's mouth and toward Natsu. Growling, Natsu held out the palms of his hands and deflected the breath attack. Gajeel's mouth dropped in shock and astonishment.

"He deflected my breath attack, and he did it with his bare hands!" he shouted.

Natsu glared at the Iron Dragon Slayer, his eyes glowing red, "I don't know how many more people you need to hurt before you're satisfied, but it ends now!"

"No," Gajeel muttered in disbelief, "this can't be. He's nothing but Fairy scum."

The veins on Natsu's head showed as he bared his sharp teeth in ferocity. "I'm gonna make you pay for hurting my friends. Messing with Fairy Tail is the biggest mistake you've ever made!"

Gajeel glowered back at Natsu, "The only mistake I made was not killing you sooner!"

Mint green light glowed from Gajeel's body as he charged up his powers. He then leaped at his enemy, his fist cocked back to its zenith, **"Iron Dragon Hard Fist!"**

In response, Natsu reared back his own arm and punched Gajeel's fist. For a second, nothing happened until the flames and emerald energy shrouding Natsu and Gajeel's forms increased. Remarkably, the iron scales on Gajeel's arm began to crack. The cracks worked their way up his arm and to his face.

Gajeel's eyes went wide in shock and horror, "No…I'm the strongest!" he yelled out in distraught.

"You're finished, Black Steel!" The fire covering Natsu's body became hotter and more intense as his eyes shined a bright gold, **"Flame Lotus, Fire Dragon Fist!"**

Shockingly, Natsu punched Gajeel in various places at incredible speed, "This is for Levy…Droy…Jet…Nab…Macao…Gramps…Nero….and LUCY!" He punched in-between each pause.

He delivered a powerful uppercut that sent a stunned Gajeel flying back. Natsu held out his arms in a 'power up' fashion as he let out a long, violent yell. However, Natsu didn't let up his onslaught, delivering another attack of flaming hot punches.

"THIS IS FOR ATTACKING THEM AND DESTROYING OUR GUILD HALL!" bellowed Natsu.

The last punch was so powerful it shook the entire Giant, ripped apart the walls of the command center in an explosion that could be seen from the courtyard, and caused the Giant's head to break off from its body, allowing it to fall into the ocean.

To avoid being crushed under tons of rubble, Happy and Lucy were in the air, the former carrying the latter. They looked around the ruined building, searching for their fellow guildmate.

"Where is he?" Lucy asked with concern.

Both Lucy and Happy called out for Natsu before they found him standing on the edge of the Giant. Below him, on the floor beneath, was a badly bruised and thoroughly beaten Gajeel Redfox.

"Alright! It looks like he won!" Happy said excitingly.

Lying in the crushed building debris, Gajeel mumbled painfully, "You…can't…defeat me."

"Oh yeah? Well, I think I just did." Natsu countered.

Finally, exhaustion caught up with the Fire Dragon Slayer as he fell backward in a limp heap. His body was aching hard in pain from fatigue and the injuries he'd sustained thanks to Gajeel. Many cuts and bruises were littered across his body while his pants were torn in places.

"He's down!" Lucy cried.

Despite the agony he was in, Natsu looked up to Lucy and Happy and grinned brightly, "Well, that was fun but I think I'm gonna rest a bit," He admitted.

The Celestial mage and flying cat laughed in response, happy that their friend had won and was alright.

* * *

 _With Nero..._

The battle between the two Fairy Tail Guild members and the Phantom Lord Master had been harsh. However, things turned for the worse when Jose suddenly lifted up into the air. Nero and Erza looked up and were a bit startled to see purplish-black energy coursing all around his body, but this time it looked far more intense. His dark, sickening eyes were honed in on them. Nevertheless, Nero and Erza took battle stances besides each other, ready to engage Jose once more.

But, neither Nero or Erza could make a move when the building suddenly began to shake. The shaking was so violent that pieces of the roof began to break off, falling to the floor as cracks began to form all around the room. It didn't take the trio to figure out that the reason for the shaking was Natsu and Gajeel duking it out.

Jose closed his eyes and smiled smugly, "My, my, what an unruly dragon you have."

Erza panted heavily for a short moment before retorting, "He may be unruly, but he's an extremely powerful wizard."

"In a way, he's like us; strong and refuses to just give up," agreed Nero, planting Red Queen into the floor.

Erza glanced at the hunter and smiled, sending him a quick appreciative nod, which he returned.

"Hmph," Jose scoffed, "there's no need to be modest, you two. You, Titania Erza, your magic is just as spectacular as Salamander's." He then turned his gaze to Nero, "And you, Nero Sparda, while you are a demon and your magic is unfamiliar to me, I must admit, its stronger than anything I've seen before, and I suspect there is more within you. But the fact stands, you two are the first to last this long in battle against me. However, as fun as this has been, it's time I finish this," Jose stated.

The Phantom master held out his hand, summoning a dark violet magical seal. Three ghost-like tendrils expelled from the circle and flew towards the duo. Nero immediately recognized the attack. All too familiar with the Shade Entangle.

Reacting on instinct, Nero leaped in front of Erza, firing a size Summoned Swords at the incoming tendrils, slicing them to pieces. Rolling to the side, he drew Blue Rose with his right hand and fired at Jose, but the darkness mage was able to dodge each attack with his amazing reflexes. Jose looked back at Nero and glared at him.

"You're really beginning to annoy me!" he shouted.

"It's part of my charm," snarked Nero.

"And mine!" Erza added as she flew straight for Jose, Nero charging right behind her. Jose held out his hands and discharged countless darkness blasts at the duo, Nero held out Devil Bringer, the limb blocking the energy projectiles before sending Spectral Bringer at the master. The giant hand grabbed hold of Jose and smashed him into the ground with enough force to create a cloud of dust, blinding the mage.

Erza used this golden opportunity to her advantage as she soared into the dust cloud and slashed Jose across his chest again, leaving another diagonal wound.

Nero capitalized on her attack by dashing in with Red Queen fully revved up and slashed several times at the stunned Jose, leaving several cuts in the man. The master was sent sliding back a few yards. Raising his head, Jose was too slow to act as Erza and Nero both slugged him in the face, the hunter adding a little more power to it by adding Spectral Bringer. A loud smack echoed through the battered room as Jose went careening back until he crashed into a wall for the umpteenth time.

The armor shifting wizard landed beside Nero as he strode up, ready to continue the fight because it would. Like other previous times, Jose leaped out of the wall again, deadly purple energy radiating off of his body. Running at impressive speeds, he charged at his closest opponent, Nero, his fists charged up with darkness magic. The demon hunter also charged to meet Jose, cocking back Devil Bringer which was shinning a cyan blue.

When their fists met, the result was an explosion of energy that sent both flying back to opposite sides of the room. As Phantom Lord's master collided with the wall once again, Erza seized the opportunity and jumped at him, her sword reared back to its zenith.

Jose, however, sidestepped Titania's attack and grabbed Erza by her wrist. He slammed her into the floor from his right side to his left for a moment. He then tossed her across the room where she slammed into Nero who was just able to catch the wizard rather than let her slam into him again. But like last time, they still collided.

The darkness mage grinned widely, "Hearing you two crash into one another was so enjoyable. But I'll be even more overjoyed when I hear your screams as I tear you both apart!"

"Ow," muttered Nero as he and Erza both got up back to their feet, "This is getting really old."

Erza's right eye had swollen closed from the impact with Nero. Nevertheless, that didn't take away from the glare she was sending Jose's way.

"Even though you're blocking his energy attacks, he's still very strong and fast," Erza pointed out.

"True," agreed Nero, knowing that he couldn't hold out on this anymore, "but there's a way to even the playing field."

Erza glanced at her ally while raising an eyebrow, curious as to what Nero had planned.

The purplish-black, hazy energy surrounding Jose grew more intense as he stepped forward. A deadly, baleful smile took shape on his black lips as he stared at the two powerhouses in malevolent glee.

"What's the holdup you two? Aren't you going to attack me?" Jose mocked, "Where's that determination from before? Don't tell me you're getting scared!"

"On my trigger, got it?" explained Nero, finished telling Erza his plan.

Erza nodded in understanding.

"Don't flatter yourself, Jose," said Nero, addressing the Phantom Lord, "In all honesty, you should be the one who's afraid."

Nero leaped up into the air, Spectral Bringer appearing as he cocked back Devil Bringer. Nero sent the ethereal fist directly towards Jose's feet, however, the wizard easily dodged the attack, and the resulting dust cloud was left worthless. Instead, the Master used this to his advantage as he charged right towards Nero.

The hunter was taken by surprise and couldn't react in time when the Phantom Lord blasted him point blank in the chest.

"Nero!" cried out Erza in worry.

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten you!" laughed Jose as he turned to Titania, releasing another blast at her.

The Fairy Queen was knocked back, where she tumbled across the floor. Nero was just pushing himself to his hands and feet when he was struck by another magical spell. However, this was one he previously tried to avoid: Shade Entangle.

Pain ran across Nero's body as the spell took its effects. The hunter struggled against the tendrils wrapped around him, but the more he did, the more pain he experienced.

"Is your plan working out like you intended?" requested Jose mockingly.

"Jose!" yelled Erza as she flew at the mage, intending to free Nero, but was knocked back down, by the Phantom Lord, who used his darkness magic to pin her down.

"Fairy Tail is pathetic!" stated Jose, "You're pathetic! Despite all your power, you are all weak! Your master is weak! And I will end this guild once and for all! Might is everything! Without strength, you cannot protect anything! Let alone yourself!"

Nero had heard that sentence before. His eyes flared red. He wasn't about to lose anything else. Not anymore.

 _'He wants power,'_ thought Nero, as he dug into himself, finding whatever bit of energy he had left, _'Fine, I'll give him power!'_

Energy began to flicker around the demon hunter, his eyes glowing brighter red as cyan blue energy spread across his body. Jose locked his attention on Nero with intrigue. The hunter's breathing was becoming harsher, more forced, as his right arm began to glow.

"What are you-," demanded Jose, but was cut off when Nero let out a scream as the energy around him blasted out.

The blast knocked both Jose and Erza away from the demon hunter. Tumbling across the floor before stopping. Debris had fallen onto Nero in the process, burying him underneath it.

"Nero!" shouted Erza, but was blasted by Jose who was back on his feet.

"Keep your focus, Miss Titania!" mocked the Phantom Lord, "But don't worry, you'll be joining him soon!"

The pile of debris began to as the sound of stone grinding against stone filled Jose's ears, only to fall silent. The Phantom Lord brushed it off as nothing more than remains settling.

The pile of wreckage that once had had dozens of stones and some supports pilled on top suddenly erupted and sent pieces flying everywhere, as if a bomb had been set off. A blue glow following shortly as dust filled the air, but not the glow. Jose and Erza both turned to look at the pile.

The Phantom Lord took a step back as a figure emerged from the smoke. The air around the being became distorted slightly, before a terrifying roar mixed in with a yell shattered the momentary silence. The scream was not like that of a human, but that of a monster. A demon.

Stepping out of the smoke was Nero, but not him at the same time. To Jose, this was a monster.

Behind the demon hunter was the Specter. Red Queen was sheathed across his back while Yamato was gripped tightly in the claws of Devil Bringer.

 _ **"Where's your confidence, Jose?"**_ Demanded Nero in his Devil Trigger form, his eyes burning blood red as energy danced across his body, _ **"What happened to destroying Fairy Tail? Destroying us?"**_

"Y-you think you scare me?!" demanded Jose as he took a step back as Nero drew closer. Ezra was silently watching as the hybrid demon came closer.

 _ **"I don't care what you think,"**_ snapped the Demon Hunter harshly, actually causing Jose to flinch slightly, _**"But what I do care about is the fact that you attacked my family. And that pissed me off."**_

In a move of desperation, Jose gathered a ball of violent energy into his hands before throwing it straight at Nero. But the Hunter raised Yamato and sliced it in two like it was nothing. Letting the darkness magic explode harmlessly behind him.

 _ **"You should've just given up like we told you, Jose,"**_ advised Nero as he drew even closer to Jose, the Phantom Lord master looked at him with complete fear, _ **"Because right now, this demon is fresh out of mercy!"**_

Nero then charged right at the Phantom Lord Master, viciously slashing Yamato at him, the Specter mimicking his movements. Jose had been too afraid to move and was thus unable to defend himself. The hunter slashed with ferocity, but he had no intention of killing Jose. After several more slashes, Nero pulled out Red Queen and began to dual wield, landing five more swings before he finished with a dual slash that knocked Jose back several yards.

 ** _"Now, Erza!"_** shouted Nero.

"On it!" She responded.

Without warning, her body was shrouded in a bright golden light as she re-quipped into her Giant Armor. A red magic circle appeared in front of her hand as she summoned the Spear of Ha-Ja.

With her new enhanced strength, Erza crouched low and leaped at Jose. In midair, she twirled the spear around to gain momentum. She let out a mighty yell as she struck Jose in the face with her spear while he was still suspended in the air. She hit him again three more times. The third and final time was strong enough to Nero who threw out Devil Bringer, the Specter mimicking this, but the arm stretched out and caught Jose by the face and proceeded to pull him into a brutal uppercut.

While the Phantom Lord was still in the air, Nero pulled back Devil Bringer, the Specter mimicking this, but began to grow in size. Once the Specter was three times the size of its original form, Nero threw a humongous punch that smashed Jose into the floor, creating a massive crater.

Nero and Titania both gathered by the crater's rim, looking down into it. As the dust cleared, Jose was lying on his back. His clothes were tattered and his body was covered in cuts and bruises ranging in various sizes, some of them bleeding profusely. However, to their amazement, Jose rolled over and weakly returned to his feet.

Even after being punched with could arguably be around 720 million newtons of force and a spear several times, not to mention being slashed dozens of times by two swords. And yet he was still able to get right back up.

He glowered at two highly-adaptive warriors before him. A bit of blood was trickling down his face. The anger and hate he was feeling towards Nero and Erza was extreme.

 _ **"Ready for another round?"**_ asked Nero, his voice distorted heavily.

Before Jose could respond, the demon hunter suddenly let out a gasp as he fell to his knees. The Specter vanished as his Devil Trigger shut down due to lack of power. Yamato vanished as well as Nero felt exhaustion take over.

"No," whispered Nero to himself, not understanding how he ran out of power.

Erza's brown eyes had widened in alarm and apprehension. Nero was out of power, thus making their situation take a dire turn for the worse. The advantage that they had gained over Jose had now vanished.

A malicious smile grew on Jose's ebony lips as he honed in on Nero with sinister glee. He cackled madly before he said, "It seems you've used up all your power! This is the part where you die!"

Jose gathered a ball of violent energy into his hands before throwing it straight at the demon hunter.

"Nero! NO!" cried Erza.

The orb shot towards Nero at a speed that he couldn't dodge, not that he was even able to with his exhaustion taking over. Nero just watched the orb approach him, just waiting for it to happen. However, instead of feeling knocked out or killed like he expected, nothing happened. He was taken by surprise when Jose's darkness magic was enveloped by a larger, brilliant white ball before they both disappeared.

"What in the...," rasped Nero, looking at the source in confusion. But when he did so, he couldn't help but gawk at the one responsible. Erza followed his gaze and she too shared Nero's expression.

Levitating on top of a tall pile of debris was Master Makarov. His arms were folded over his chest and his eyes were closed while he slowly descended to the top of the rubble pile. He was still wearing his white coat with the Ten Wizard Saints symbol on the back, blue trousers, and black leather boots.

When Makarov's feet finally set foot on the debris, he spoke with venom in his voice, "You have shed the blood of our children, and that is unforgivable! They have been made to suffer because of the incompetence of their parents. We are both to blame, Jose."

Nero and Erza both smiled, happy and relieved to see Makarov. The latter almost shed a tear from the sight of him. His skin was no longer a sickly green and he didn't appear to be on the verge of dying anytime soon. Even Nero, who wasn't a wizard, could tell that the master had regained his immense magical power.

"This war between us has gone on long enough," Makarov opened his eyes, casting a dark glare at Jose, "Let's end this here and now!"

Titania wiped a tear from her eye and smiled at Makarov, "Master."

"Good to see him back in the land of the living," commented Nero as he stumbled slightly as he stood up, "Guy knows how to make an entrance as well as Dante."

Jose was silent for a moment, but the smug grin on his creepy face spoke in volumes. He closed his eyes and then reopened them, only the white had changed to black and his pupils had turned to silver…like from earlier when Nero and Jose were fighting. The power around him began to increase as small pebbles floated off the floor around him.

"If we fight it could cause a catastrophe." Jose smiled spitefully.

Growling, Makarov narrowed his eyes in contempt. The power around the dwarf-sized wizard began to fluctuate as well. A golden ball of energy appeared at the end of his left index finger.

"In order to save my guild I will gladly take that risk!" Makarov countered.

Makarov and Jose stared at one another, vast amounts of magic coursing through them. At that moment, Gray, who was lying off on the other side of the room, was beginning to return to consciousness.

"W-what?" he mumbled, using his elbows to lift himself up from the cold floor. "For some reason, this warm light reminds me of the master."

When he turned his gaze to the source of the light, his dark eyes widened in awe and shock.

Jose let out a yell as he held out his hand, firing a few ghostly tendrils. Makarov responded by summoning a group of small, golden magic circles to intercept Jose's attacks.

"You kids need to get out of here now!" Makarov warned.

Gray found the strength to rise back to his feet as did Elfman, who too had arisen from unconsciousness.

"Gramps!" Gray cried.

"We'll stay with you!" Elfman added.

Nero and Erza turned to them, "No! We have to do what he says!" the latter ordered.

They ran to Gray, Elfman, and Mirajane, the latter of whom was just waking up.

"C'mon, we have to leave!" Erza yelled, "If we stay here, we're only going to get in his way."

"You sure that's a good idea? Guy just came back from the dead," asked Nero as he turned to her, "Just give me a minute and I'll be back in the fight."

Erza glanced at Makarov, and smiled, "That's unnecessary. He'll be alright this time. I have faith in our master."

"If you're sure," conceded Nero, nodding before turning and sprinted out of the room with the others, putting some distance between them and the showdown between two of the most powerful wizards in Fiore. He didn't like leaving a fight unfinished, but he wasn't in any state to pick a fight with Jose again.

Meanwhile, with Makarov and Jose, the wielder of darkness magic smiled in a complacent manner, "It's been six years since we both came face-to-face, when Phantom was number one and no one knew how large Fairy Tail would become," He chuckled before continuing, "But now it's been reduced to rubble!"

Makarov's glare intensified as he created a few golden orbs in the air connected by a white line, the whole thing laid out in a zigzag pattern.

"Our Guild Hall may have been destroyed, but we're strong as ever!" Makarov retorted angrily.

"I must admit I'm looking forward to this," Jose said, "Although it's frowned upon by the Council I can't wait to see who is the superior Wizard Saint."

All of a sudden, bright golden light began to shine from underneath Makarov's feet whilst ethereal purple light emerged from underneath Jose's. The two Wizard Saints were charging up their powers for the imminent battle to come.

"I couldn't have done this without you, my children. Bless you, all. Be proud that you are all members of Fairy Tail!" bellowed Makarov.

Astonishingly, dark storm clouds swirled high above the broken Giant; in addition, a sphere-shaped force field formed around the robot that pushed away the ocean waters. Lightning came down from the sky and struck near the Giant. The magical energy being manipulated was on an immense scale.

Meanwhile, Makarov and Jose were both pushing against each other with dome-shaped energy barriers. The former's was composed of a brilliant golden-white energy whilst the latter's was purplish-black. As he kept up the shield, Makarov yelled as he fired a white energy tendril from his left hand.

Jose countered the attack by shooting his own violent version of a tendril. When the two tendrils met, the result was an outburst of energy that sent both mages careening back a short distance before they regained control.

Phantom's master recovered quickly as a purple energy sphere with swirling tendrils extending out of it gathered in Jose's right hand, _**"Dead Wave!"** _he chanted.

Suddenly, an incredibly powerful pillar of darkness magic fired from Jose's hand. The blast was so strong it created a tidal wave outside the building and strong gusts of wind.

After a moment, when the dust settled, Makarov was still levitating off the floor and he was relatively unharmed. He summoned three magic circles, one under his feet and two on his right and left side. Once he accumulated enough energy, he cried out as he discharged a powerful beam of white light at Jose.

The building shook even more, causing more damage throughout the structure and more debris to collapse. Makarov landed on top of a debris pile once again whilst Jose stood on the floor beneath. He too had avoided Makarov's attack, just as Fairy Tail's master had evaded his before.

"I'm impressed," Makarov admitted, "You have so much power at your demand. I can see why the Council made you one of the Ten Wizard Saints."

Jose only smiled haughtily as he honed in on the dwarf-sized man.

"However, you're misusing that power for your own personal gain. You could've become a role model for the younger generation; instead, you've become a lesson in what not to do!" Makarov reprimanded.

Jose huffed, "What is this? A lecture?"

"I have a rule that seems to work well for my Fairy Tail kids. I'll give you to the count of three to do exactly what I say," Makarov declared.

Jose's smile turned into a savage frown as he glared deeply at Makarov. It only became worse when Makarov demanded, "Kneel to me."

A short moment passed before Phantom's leader raised a brow, and asked, "WHAT?"

Makarov ignored Jose's confusion as he began the countdown, "One"

"So you want me to concede and kneel before you? NO WAY IN HELL!" shouted Jose.

"Two," Makarov's eyes had already turned to white. Then, he began to form a brilliant white energy sphere in-between the palms of his hands.

"Why would the master of the most powerful Guild in this kingdom ever stoop so low as to kneel before you!?" Jose yelled; forming ghost shaped tendrils in his hands, "Technically, we are equally powerful, but my ability to be heartless makes me even stronger!"

"Three," Makarov said, his voice becoming stronger as was the sphere between his hands.

"You should be the one kneeling before me! Now, you and your precious Fairy Tail children are going to die!" roared Jose.

"Time's up."

"THIS IS IT! AWWWWW!" Jose fired two dense darkness tendrils at Makarov.

However, as soon as Makarov clasped his hands together, bright white light consumed his form and the sound of a large bell could be heard. The brilliant light immediately vaporized the darkness and filled the whole room. It was just as bright as a star.

From within the light, Makarov said, "I invoke… **Fairy Law!"**

Suddenly, a giant golden magical seal appeared above the nearly destroyed Giant. Then, without warning, a flash of gold and white was cast out from the stone robot and across the land. The wizards of Fairy Tail and citizens of Magnolia were all forced to look away from the intensity of the brightness.

Just on the shoreline by the demolished guild hall, Nero, Erza, Gray, Elfman, and Mirajane all turned to the dazzling light coming from Phantom's headquarters. The Demon Hunter looked on in awe from the display, completely blown away by the power, but was also curious as to what was creating it.

"Someone mind explaining what the hell that is?" asked Nero glancing at Erza for a second.

Erza, who had re-quipped back into her Heart Kreuz armor, stared at the phenomenon in wonder, a smile on her pretty face, "It's Fairy Law, a spell that vanquishes darkness with sacred light. It only affects those the caster sees as their enemy," She paused as she admired the view, "Incredible, isn't it?"

"Yeah," agreed Nero, as he folded his arms and a smirk formed on his lips, hearing what Erza just told him really impressed the demon. From what Erza had told him, this Fairy Law was very powerful. Though he had seen many powerful things in his tenure as a demon hunter, the most powerful being the Savior followed by another, Fairy Law definitely took a place in the top three.

"It's one of the most legendary spells in existence," Erza continued.

"I can see why," Gray remarked.

The brilliant light shined for another minute before it finally died away. The storms clouds dissipated, the lightning stopped, and the tidal waves weakened. Everything returned to normal. However, within the building, there was one person who was far from normal.

Jose stood in a petrified position, his body trembling slightly. His arms were fixed in a position that shielded his face. The most notable change though was the color of his hair; it had turned from black to grayish-white. His skin was wrinkled and his eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Absolute trepidation was etched into his entire body.

Master Jose of the Phantom Lord guild had been defeated.

Makarov scowled at his rival, "You will never bother Fairy Tail again. Understand?" He then turned away, "I'm sure the Magic Council will be watching us after all the chaos we caused. You better be on your best behavior for now on. I know I will."

As Master Makarov began to walk away, a hazy humanoid figure appeared out of thin air. Aria, who had just recovered from the beating Nero gave him, floated silently behind Makarov. His eyes and mouth were wide in exhilaration.

 _'Our master has fallen. How sad. The old man has left himself wide open again. THIS IS MY CHANCE!'_ Aria shouted inwardly.

Before the air mage could cast his Airspace: Drain spell again, Makarov's fist extended out and punched him in the face. The force from the blow sent the big man hurtling into a rocky pillar, instantaneously sending him back into unconsciousness.

"The war is over. There is no need to fight," Makarov proclaimed, "But if you push me to the point of anger, I'll wipe out your entire Guild without hesitation," He then turned around with a happy, perked up expression, "Now you kids get out of here, and take Jose with you."

* * *

 _ **Fairy Tail Guild Ruins, Courtyard**_

Later on, Nero and the others had met up with the rest of Fairy Tail in the courtyard. Everyone was cheering and elated that they had won the war against Phantom Lord. Even the demon was stoked that they had won, taking Phantom Lord and its wizards down several pegs, which they so righteously deserved. But more importantly, it looked as though criminals and other bad guys across Magnolia would take Fairy Tail a bit more seriously now.

Master Makarov stood upon a fallen ledge from Phantom's headquarters where he could see all of the wizards of Fairy Tail and close enough to be heard. All of Fairy Tail turned their full attention to the dwarf-sized master.

"We are victorious!" He yelled loud enough for everyone to hear, "But I had very little to do with it. This victory…is yours my children!"

Everyone cheered loudly in response. While Nero, he just smirked and shook his while he hooked his thumbs into his belt.

 _'I might be growing or something, but I disagree,'_ thought the demon hunter, _'You finished what we started.'_

* * *

 _ **Elsewhere**_

As the sun was setting across the horizon, sending a multitude of colors, ranging from red, orange, and yellow across the sky as the night fell ever closer. The ocean closest to the west reflected the warm colored light of the setting sun while the waters to the east began to turn blackish-blue. A few stars twinkled from above, but the moon was not out tonight.

Standing on a rocky ledge on a mountain, a figure was looking down at Magnolia. The figure could see the many small buildings and the grand Cathedral in the center of town. However, the character's main focus was drawn to Fairy Tail's Guild Hall, which was lying in shambles.

The figure had a strong build and broad shoulders, suggesting he was a male. However, very little could be determined about his other features, mainly his face as it was wreathed in the shadow of a tree. He wore a deep purple coat, finely made. A scarf was wrapped around his neck and tucked in. Fine dress pants clothed his legs while unique boots adorned his feet. What stood out most was the red ruby that was pinned to the top of the scarf. He held his hands behind his back. His entire demeanor held a regal feeling.

However, he stood silently, almost like a statue in the darkness, dark orange irises, surrounded by pitch black sclera peered down onto the remains of the hall and the wizards and people gathered there. However, his main focus was on one single person. A platinum blond young adult, with a demonic appendage, that held within the sword Sparda used to seal away the Demon World.

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, if it was in contempt, or interest it wasn't clear. After his last attempt for power failed, he had been cast here because of that failure. It proved to be a beneficial consequence as this world was ripe with energy and power. He now understood why Mundus was so transfixed by this place, as well as the human world.

But he has grown stronger the last time he fought the boy. But it was clear he had not yet mastered or discovered his true potential. And that was all he needed to ensure his victory. He would gain more power, hone what he had learned from this place, and then take back what belongs to him. But not now, no. He must wait and recruit followers to ensure his plans would flourish.

Patience is a virtue. And he was willing to wait years to get what belongs to him.

"While you have grown the last time we crossed blades, you will not achieve victory," stated the figure in a low, almost sarcastic voice, "you have not realized your potential," his tone then shifted, "you do not have the strength to defend yourself from what is to come."

With that, the man turned on his heel and disappeared into the forest.

 _ **To be continued...**_

 _ **Read and Review**_


	14. Chapter 14 Face The Music

_**And here we are, chapter 14 of Devil Tail. For this chapter, we'll be diverging away from Canon to focus more on the Demon aspect of the story, and the long-awaited time for Nero to expand his arsenal. Yes. Nero is getting his Devil Arm, not to be confused with Devil Bringer, but you know what I mean. Also, looking back, I'm sorry about the way I handled the Devil Trigger, I agree that I could've made it a bit more flashy and powerful as Triggers are known for, but taking into account the punishment Nero's gone through, exhaustion, and generally low on power and strength, it makes sense that Nero wouldn't be able to hold it for long. But rest assured, I have no intention of doing that again. Future Triggers will be way more flashy, flamboyant, powerful, and whatever else you would associate with Devil Triggers.**_

 _ **It will be similar to when Dante got his Devil Arm, Nevan, but I'll be adding more abilities to it, and unlike the last chapter, I'll make a flashback of Nero explaining to everyone his true nature. Also, kudos to**_ ** _lolrus555 for giving me the idea to give Nero a Devil Arm and writing the flashback. Really appreciate the work, buddy._**

 ** _And in case you are wondering, the demon's voice I have in mind is Peri Gilpin, though for some, you might know her as Roz Doyle from Fraiser._**

 ** _Also, there will be a song that I'm sure 90% of people reading this story are familiar with. Some might call me a fanboy for doing it, and a little meta, but that's their opinions. I find the song, at least this version of it, to be perfect for Nero and can actually see him playing it on a guitar. This isn't a stretch because Nero does have a taunt that involves him playing the air guitar._**

 ** _Also, there will be a moment when history is explained. If there are some parts that don't make sense with the history of Devil May Cry, let me know. I wanna make this story as close to the canon of DMC as possible._**

 ** _Going back to the poll. The new results are:_**

 ** _Nero: 22_**

 ** _Erza: 2_**

 ** _Draw: 3_**

 ** _Nero is still heavily favored. And I got a reason as to why. That reason being provided by xNightShroudx, (thanks by the way), that Nero outclasses Erza in terms of pain tolerance, and I agree to an extent. While Nero's healing factor might not be as strong as say Dante's or Vergil's, it's still worth noting that he was able to take being impaled several times before getting right back into the fight. However, Erza has plenty of advantages over him, so if you have a more detailed answer other than he can take more punishment than Erza, I would really appreciate it._**

 ** _To make it easier, I found a part of Fandom that looks into the abilities of fictional characters and their stats. I found Nero and Erza's stats. I wanna say that Nero has an edge in durability and total power, physical and demonic, but Erza looks to be stronger and more versatile. But I'll leave who will win up to you. Just look at the two and compare what you see._**

 ** _Also, a minor fluff scene between Nero and the demon that is appearing. It wouldn't really be a Devil May Cry without at least one sexy demon scene, and if you guys think I'm breaking away from Nero's character. Keep in mind, he's hung out with Dante, so...yeah. Also, I'm the author, I do what I want. Don't tell me how to live my life!_**

 ** _Okay, I'm digressing a little, onto the story._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing, Capcom owns DMC and whoever owns Fairy Tail does._**

* * *

 ** _Devil Tail_**

 ** _Chapter 14: Face The Music_**

 _3 weeks later..._

Ever since the Phantom Lord incident, quite a bit has happened after the battle. Shortly following said battle, everyone had gathered around the wrecked Guild Hall, Nero even offered to fix it again, but Makarov declined, though did appreciate the offer. However, the old master said that _'it was time for a change.'_

Fairy Tail had begun reconstruction practically right after the battle had been finished, eager to rebuild a new Guild Hall; nonetheless, nearly three or four days after they started, the Rune Knights showed up. The Rune Knights were the army of the Magic Council, and the wizards of Fairy Tail knew that they would show up eventually. Natsu and Happy had tried to escape but were easily captured.

The Rune Knights interrogated everyone; however, the longest person they questioned was Fairy Tail's own powerful Demon, Nero. The Knights had heard reports of a blinding blue wave slicing into Phantom Lord. Coupled in with the fact that Nero didn't exist in this world, they didn't know anything beyond that he was a new member of the guild and claimed to be a powerful Demon Slayer Mage.

Makarov had made the suggestion that Nero shouldn't lie to Knights, but would be fine if he told half-truths and perhaps stretched things a bit. After Nero heard that, he decided to play nice, well about as nice as he normally was to officials; telling them the same story as he had told everyone else when they first met. But the fact that he was part demon was completely off the table.

When he was questioned about where he was from, Nero said that he was from an island called Fortuna, and explained that it was very isolationistic, which is why no one has really heard of it. When the subject about his powers came into play, the Demon Hunter told them that he had abilities unique among Demon Slayer's and never before seen, but preferred using his sword and revolver, which surprised them, to say the least. When the reason why he joined Fairy Tail, he simply stated that he wanted to start helping people, keep the world somewhat safe, though internally, he also wanted to honor the memory of _her_.

None of the answers he gave the Knight were necessarily lies, Nero just didn't say that he was from a different plane of existence and his demonic powers could be viewed as magic. Besides, even if he did tell them that he was part demon, there was a high chance they might try to kill him.

Anyways, when the week of interrogation ended, Fairy Tail was called to Era, the headquarters of the Magic Council, to await trial. The level of anxiety everyone was experiencing was high. With just one order, the Magic Council could easily disband Fairy Tail.

Fortunately, in the end, Phantom Lord was deemed guilty and disbanded, and Master Jose was stripped of his rank as one of the Ten Wizard Saints. The Council announced that Fairy Tail's punishment would be decided at a later date, but that still didn't diminish everyone's excitement. After all, the evidence pointed straight to Phantom so no one really believed that the Council would punish Fairy Tail too severely.

A day after their trial, the Guild got back to work on constructing a new Guild Hall. However, for Team Sparda, something unexpected pulled their attention away from construction; Lucy's sudden disappearance. Nero, Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Happy had all gone to her apartment house when they found out, but when they got there, the only thing they found was a note.

On the note, written in Lucy's handwriting was: _'I will go_ home'. Signed by the mage herself

Not much debate was needed as the team hopped on a train immediately and went after her. Lucy was their friend, a member of their team. It just wouldn't be right without her. Nero could attest to that. It felt weird, without the blonde beauty yelling at either Natsu, Gray, and Happy, or a combination of the three for their idiocy, and Nero to an extent, though mainly for his sassy and snarky responses.

When they finally arrived at her father's estate, they found her standing by the grave of her mother, who had passed away years prior. The Celestial wizard had explained to them that she only came back home to warn her father to never mess with her friends or Fairy Tail ever again, or he would regret it.

Nero felt proud for her; hearing the mage aggressively tell her father off. He was rubbing off on the girl.

But he was just completely blown away by how rich the guy really was. His private estate was nearly bigger than the entire City of Magnolia! Patty was rich, after inheriting her father's wealth, but this guy was loaded!

 _'Looking back, when she ran away, she sure left a LOT behind,'_ thought Nero to himself.

As they got back to the guild, Nero now realized something pretty important, he didn't have any place to live and stay. The Guild Hall had been a substitute home, but it couldn't do that anymore now that it was just rubble and ruins. Plus, while Nero did have some jewels, he didn't have nearly enough to buy a home. Also, during the interrogation process, he slept in a tent. But Gray had bailed out the hunter by offering his place to stay, letting Nero crash in the guest room.

Out of all his teammates, Gray is likely the best bet. Lucy didn't have a guest room, plus he'd probably shoot Natsu and Happy if they annoyed him enough with breaking into her place. Besides, she had enough headaches as is. Didn't need to bring a sassy and rude Demon Hunter under her roof. Erza was basically out of the question due to living in a dormitory, Fairy Hills. Sounds nice, but only for girls. Natsu and Happy were two to consider, but Nero figured the Dragon Slayer would challenge him all the time if he stayed at his place.

A day later, Team Sparda was now participating in the construction effort. The wreckage of the former Guild Hall had been carried off and huge supplies of lumber and stone had been brought in. It was obvious this new hall would be bigger than the previous one.

Currently, all the wizards were present to aid in constructing the new building. So far, sections of stone wall had already been built around the perimeter as well as the wooden infrastructure inside.

Natsu Dragneel let out a triumphant cry as he lifted a load of heavy wooden beams over his head. But Natsu couldn't bear the weight of the heavy load; as a result, his knees buckled as he fell forward, the lumber collapsing on top of him.

Mirajane and Happy, who were standing close by, only sweatdropped at the scene.

"Oh Natsu," Mirajane sighed, exasperated.

"Saw that one coming," joked Nero as he went over to the Fire mage and summoned Spectral Bringer, Devil Bringer lighting up brightly. The ethereal hand appeared and grew in size as Nero pushed a little more power into it. Once he was satisfied with its size, he used the giant hand to gather up all the timber in one hand and carry it off. As Natsu got up, he crossed his arms and huffed at Nero.

"Show-off," he muttered.

"It's what I do," snarked Nero with a chuckle, causing Natsu to shot the Demon Hunter with a half hearted glare, knowing he was just pushing his buttons for fun.

Gray walked by, heaving a single beam over his shoulder, "That's what you get for carrying too much yah moron."

"WHAT YOU'D CALL ME?!" Natsu yelled; his anger flaring up as flames shrouded his body.

"You got a problem?" Gray seethed, getting in Natsu's face as icy energy covered his form. The duo's fire and ice clashed as they got in one another's face.

"Yeah, I gotta problem with your face!" the Dragon Slayer remarked.

Lucy, who was sitting at the finished bar counter taking a short break, sighed in annoyance, "They're at it again, huh."

"Aye," Happy muffled through the fish in his mouth.

Hiding behind a stone wall, a girl with blue hair curled at the base and wearing a navy blue coat had hearts in her eyes as she ogled Gray. Juvia squealed girlishly as she cried, "Oh Gray my love! I wish you'd carry me too!"

Suddenly, before a fight could break out, a beam of timber smashed into Natsu and Gray's heads, which buried their bodies into the ground. Erza stood above them, wearing a pair of baggy brown pants, a brown shirt, and a yellow hardhat. The lumber she used to hit them was resting on her shoulder.

"Enough! No more lollygagging!" She ordered sternly, "We have a lot of work to do!"

Natsu and Gray both had big, red bumps on their heads. "Aye," they groaned in pain.

"I wouldn't want to work for Erza," Wakaba commented.

"Did she re-quip into that outfit?" wondered Macao.

As they were talking, Nero made his way to Makarov, the master having increased his height to about twenty-five to thirty feet. He was wearing the same attire as Erza. He was putting together the wooden infrastructure of the building, and instead of using a hammer, he used his fists. Nero set the logs down just beside the old man, Makarov looked down at Nero and gave the hunter a smile.

"Thank you, Nero. Say…could you help me put together this framework?" Makarov inquired, "It'll make this go a lot faster."

"No problem," answered Nero as he hoped up to the beam Makarov was working on and grabbed some nails. Looking around, the hunter spotted a hammer laying on the ground a few feet away. Swinging Devil Bringer at it, Spectral Bringer shot out and grabbed the handle of the hammer and pulled it towards him. With the hammer, he began to hammer in some nails, working on the opposite side of Makarov, nailing down a girder in a level position that was supported by two posts. After hammering the last nail in, Nero hoped down and grabbed another pile of lumber with Spectral Bringer and followed Makarov to the next section of the building.

"Geez," Wakaba staggered back in surprise from the power Nero held, "Master's not the only one hard at work."

"Except Nero's working in a more dramatic way," Macao agreed.

"Still," interjected Cana, "it's surprising to know that Nero is the grandson of a demon."

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _Fairy Tail Ruins, Magnolia_

 _In wake of Fairy Tail's triumphant victory against Phantom Lord, and after such a long and arduous battle, one would imagine that the recuperating guild's first priority would be to celebrate their victory and lick their wounds simultaneously._

 _But no. Instead of being filled to the brim with the sounds of partying which had already been done earlier. The hall, or where it used to be, was completely silent and its_ _atmosphere was one of thick awkwardness and anticipation, and at the center of all this was Nero. Who was currently sitting on one of the guild hall's barstools which had survived the crumbling guild with a heavily thoughtful look on his face while every other one of his guildmates_ _looked at him with great curiosity._

 _'...I knew this was gonna happen the moment I showed my powers off in front of everyone, and I accepted that I'd have to clear things up once the excitement wore down, but God damn, how the hell do I explain all this shit!?' Nero thought irritably as he took a moment to look down at his demonic appendage before readopting his thoughtful expression._

 _To put things into context, Nero had quite simply been put on the spot in front of everyone by Gray, Elfman, and Mira regarding his demonic abilities. Of course, since this was being said in front of the guild and since they all bore witness to Nero using his Devil Trigger to deflect that shot from the Jupiter cannon, the descendant of Sparda couldn't exactly just talk his way out of this situation and he did promise to explain everything._

 _And so, Nero had been requested by pretty much everyone in Fairy Tail to explain what exactly the circumstances surrounding his demonic nature_ was _. The white-haired young man was admittedly reluctant to do so, but he also had a gut feeling that he was gonna be sticking around with Fairy Tail for a while, so it was probably for the best that he lay all his cards on the table now._

 _That being said, it had been ten minutes since Nero had agreed to start explaining and he still hadn't said a peep since then, merely sitting at the bar looking rather thoughtful while everyone looked on with varying levels of impatience. It was really only a few minutes of waiting, but the anticipation made it seem more like an hour._

 _After another moment of unbearably long anticipation, Nero's eyes suddenly widened and he began to open his mouth…_

 _Only to close it and shake his head slightly before readopting his 'thinking' expression, causing everyone present to fall over in a comical manner._

 _"AHHHHH! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! SAY SOMETHING, PLEASE! THIS ANTICIPATION IS KILLING US!" Happy exclaimed with a desperate expression on his face, flying in front of Nero as the silence was finally broken._

 _"Look, this isn't exactly an easy topic to go into, alright? You all probably already realized this, but my family history's kind of a total clusterfuck… and an atrocity on family values too. Anyway," stated Nero, pushing the blue cat back, mainly to give him some room, "Just give me a second to get my thoughts in order, will you?"_

 _Everyone groaned, knowing that Nero had a lot to explain, but still, the anticipation was killing them. In fact, they much rather be fighting Phantom Lord again._

 _"Alright!" stated Nero as he got himself ready, "Feel like I can actually explain this shit now!"_

 _"Nothing like a little liquid courage to help drive you_ forward, _" Cana added in nonchalantly, taking a chug from her own large frothy mug._

 _"...Alright, if I'm gonna be explaining this to you guys, I guess the best place to start is gonna be at the beginning," Nero began, crossing his arms as he began, "About a couple thousand years ago, to be exact."_

 _"Hey, I told you guys this shit wasn't gonna be easy to explain," Nero drawled out nonchalantly, noting the expressions given to him by a few wizards,_ _"Back in my own world, about several thousand years ago, there was some kind of big, apocalyptic war between humans and, you guessed it, demons. Led by the Prince of Darkness, Mundus, who somehow managed to open up the gap between my world and hell and launched a crusade on the human world to conquer it."_

 _In response to hearing that familiar name be brought up, Makarov's eyes widened just ever so slightly._

 _'That monster really was everywhere, it seems…' The guild master thought seriously, recalling what he was told by Nero sometime back after Galuna Island. However, he remained silent as Nero continued to relay his tale._

 _"They did this because they're demons, it's in their nature, most of the time," that last bit was mainly about Sparda, but also about Trish, Modeus, and Lucia, whom Nero met a few times, "And the humans fought back against them because the spawns of hell aren't_ _exactly the most benevolent world leaders you could ask for."_

 _"No really?" asked Natsu sarcastically._

 _"Anyway, from what I've heard, humanity was losing badly for a while before a game changer came around in the form of my grandfather, a demon by the name of Sparda," explained the hunter, Erza catching the name quickly as it was Nero's last name._

 _"So Sparda is not your last name, but the name of your grandfather," surmised Erza._

 _"Yeah," nodded Nero, glancing at the Fairy Queen for a moment, "Sparda was unlike a lot of other demons since he had a little something called a conscience, and it was towards the climax of this war that he decided to 'wake up to justice' and defend the humans from his demonic kin. From there, he single-handedly slaughtered his way through the demonic legions of hell before personally confronting Mundus. He couldn't kill him, but he was able to defeat him, which gave him enough time to separate the human world from hell. Of course, since Sparda was a demon himself, doing this didn't come without a pretty hefty price."_

 _"I see… you're saying that even if it meant being stuck in a very literal hell filled with a population of vengeful demons, he was still willing to seal the bridge between worlds away," Makarov summarised, stating the conclusion everyone else present was coming to as they listened to Nero's tale, "Even though he was a demon, Sparda truly did have the heart of a man. And a heroic and honorable one at that."_

 _It was an understandable conclusion to come to, all things considered. The tragic tale of a demon that woke up to justice_ _, making the ultimate sacrifice after turning against his demonic brethren to ensure the safety of humanity._

 _"So did he die?" asked Natsu._

 _"If Sparda died, then how is Nero here?" demanded Gray, "think for a change flame breath."_

 _"You wanna go, ice stripper!" demanded Natsu, a tick mark forming on his head as he glared at Gray._

 _"NATSU! GRAY!" shouted Erza, causing both mentioned mages to immediately cower in fear, "NERO IS SPEAKING!"_

 _"Sorry!" Natsu and Gray apologized at the same time._

 _"Thank you for that," sweatdropped Nero, shaking his head, "Sparda was fine and still in the human world after sealing the way to hell closed; he just lost all if not, most of his power," Nero corrected with a deadpan tone, raising a single brow as the rest of the guild face-faulted in a rather comical manner, their initial expectations having been brutally shot down, "As for why Sparda lost his power upon sealing the gateway, that's a bit hard to answer. I've heard from some sources that it was just the natural consequence of cutting off the way to his old home, but I've also heard that Sparda deliberately sealed his power away because he felt he was growing too strong. It's honestly hard to tell what's true and what's not. As you can probably guess, the details surrounding events that went down several thousand years ago are kinda hazy."_

 _Shaking his head, the hunter shrugged in a not caring fashion, "Either way, the end result was Sparda's most trusted sword, the Force Edge, being left at the edge of the demon world with all the power he used to drive back the demonic legions and Mundus stored within."_

 _"Was that really a good idea?" Levy began, gaining Nero's attention, "Sounds to me like this Sparda guy had his heart in the right place, but if that power he had was enough to let him single-handedly win a war against the forces of hell, what's stopping any intelligent demon from trying to take that power for themselves? Seems to me like he didn't think too far ahead."_

 _"That'd be where you're wrong. Sparda was apparently smart enough to keep his power under some hefty locks when he was sealing it away. Using two amulets, that when linked together, could be used to reopen the door to hell, he somehow managed to link the means of unlocking his power to those amulets. When connected and brought to the Force Edge, all of Sparda's power within that sword becomes available for anyone to take. And considering that the Force Edge was stuck in hell while the amulet pieces were in the human world, it ensured that any opportunistic jackass trying to get his hands on that power would have to go through some serious hoops to get it."_

 _"All things considered, seems like Sparda was quite infamous among the hellish crowd. It'd definitely explain why Deliora said his name when he saw you…" commented Gray, recalling that Deliora had called Nero 'Sparda' during the Galuna Island quest._

 _"Yeaaah, from what I've seen, demons have pretty sharp noses and Sparda's blood carries a pretty strong goddamn scent," confessed the hunter, "But I digress. After taking care of the immediate problem of demons flooding in through a gate to hell and slaughtering everyone in sight, Sparda apparently just spent the next millennia just… well… no one's really sure on what exactly he was doing between then and now. No one's even sure if he's dead or not even now," Nero admitted when he realized. It was convenient though. It wasn't really important and he didn't exactly want to spend his afternoon trying to explain several thousand years worth of history to everyone present._

 _"But none of that's really important to what I'm trying to say here. What IS important is that a few decades before I was born, Sparda met a human woman by the name of Eva, who he eventually fell in love with and married. Not long after this little union, Eva soon gave birth to two sons."_

 _However, before any mage could say anything, the hunter beat them to it, "And before any of you chucklefucks say a word, Sparda apparently had a human form he used to live among humans and it was… anatomically correct to boot. So get your minds out of the gutter and focus on the actual important parts of this story, got it?"_

 _"I'd uh… I'd be lying if I wasn't a bit curious after seeing what that Scarecrow looked like. Hehe…," Lucy couldn't help but chuckle sheepishly._

 _"Actually, we did," interjected Happy, "remember when we went off to do a job and Nero went off to do his own thing?"_

 _"Oh yeah," said Natsu, remembering that run in, "thing was just creepy."_

 _Erza remembered that event, having learned a valuable lesson from Nero that day: never turn your back on a demon._

 _"To get back on topic, Sparda and Eva had two sons, twins, as a matter of fact, that were half demon and half human. The best of both worlds, essentially. One of them was my uncle, Dante, who ran that whole devil slaying business I've mentioned before, and the other was my 'dear old dad', **Vergil** ," The way Nero spat out those last few words implied a lot of very mixed feelings regarding his father._

 _"It was not long after Dante and Vergil being born that Sparda just dropped off the face of the Earth. Like I said before, no one is really sure just what happened to him. He could be dead, he could be alive… shit, who knows? Maybe he's off skulking around in this world somehow. Point is, no one really knows what happened other than the fact that Eva was left to raise her two sons by herself… which leads us to another important subject in this little history lesson..."_

 _Nero hesitated for a minute, wondering if he should tell them about Dante's past, but knew that it was really his place to say._

 _"Alright, look. I'm just gonna skip over this next part cause frankly, it's not really my place to go off talking about it," decided the hunter, "As you can all probably guess, Mundus held one hell of a grudge against Sparda for crossing him, stopping his plans, and humiliating him in every sense of the word … you all see what I'm getting at here?"_

 _"Dante and Vergil managed to get out of there alive, but events, really tragic ones_ , _they can do things to a man," stated Nero ominously, "Dante coped by opening up Devil May Cry, a demon hunting business that I was a recent addition to before I ended up here, and Vergil… he… didn't take what happened nearly as well."_

 _"What did happen?" asked Lucy, in curiosity._

 _"Don't ask me that, Lucy," requested Nero sharply, "because if you ask, I'm gonna have to tell. So please to don't ask that. It's not my place to say."_

 _Lucy nodded, seeing that what happened was a sensitive topic. Nero shook his head, taking in a deep breath before letting it out through his nose._

 _"Look, even though the guy was my father, I never personally knew him," stated the hunter, "Everything I know about him is stuff I heard from Dante and one other person that met him. Everything I heard about the guy paints him as a power-hungry 'might makes right' kinda guy."_

 _"From what Dante told me, after what happened, their relationship became a lot more vitriolic… and by vitriolic, I mean they tried to kill each other whenever they met. Heh, shit… Dante even told me he managed to run a sword through him a few times like that iron bastard did to me," snorted Nero in grim humor, "Guess it runs in the family…"_

 _Everyone openly gaped at that. Nero's father and uncle tried to kill each other! And Vergil actually impaled Dante!_

 _"Anyway, this sibling rivalry between the two of them continued for years, and came to a head when my 'dear old dad' decided to reopen the gate to hell my gramps sealed up."_

 _"Are you for real!? Why the hell would he do something like that!?" demanded Natsu._

 _"A couple of reasons," replied Nero evenly, "If what Dante told me about him was true, my dad's whole 'might makes right' philosophy stemmed from him deciding to embrace his demonic heritage more than his human heritage. Not only that, but I was also told that he admired Sparda to the point of wanting to emulate him and the great power he had… so when he eventually found out that the Force Edge and all that literally ungodly power was just sitting on the other end of that doorway to the demon world._ _If I had to guess, then he probably considered that sword and the power inside it his birthright."_

 _"But Nero, didn't you say yourself that reopening that gate and claiming Sparda's power was an extremely difficult task? How exactly did he accomplish these things, like finding out just what and where exactly this gate was, or acquiring the amulets to unlock the sword's power?" Mira questioned; her expression one of both morbid curiosity and concern._

 _"Well, that's actually a funny thing for you to bring up regarding those amulets. Turns out, finding these amulet pieces was going to be no problem for Vergil, considering he already had one of them long before he knew about the Temen-Ni-Gru and he already knew were the other was," he explained, gaining a lot of attention, which one wizard immediately picked up on._

 _"H-Hold on for a second here, Nero! You're jumping forward way too many steps! How did he already have one of the amulet pieces if he only knew about what they did after the fact!? And what's a 'Temen Ni Gru' for that matter!?" Levy quickly asked, she and everyone else taken aback and off track by the quick succession of revelations they just heard._

 _"Yeah, I forgot to mention that, didn't I?" Nero admitted, scratching the side of his head, "To simplify things, the Temen-Ni-Gru was a demonic tower that was supposed to act as a medium before the human world and the demon world. I can only assume it was what Mundus used to send his forces through during that big war before Sparda put a stop to all that. As for how Vergil found out about it and everything, I'm not too sure myself; Dante only told me the bare essentials… along with all the parts where he apparently did something cool. I don't care what he says, I'm still calling bullshit on riding a rocket-powered motorcycle up a gigantic fucking tower while using said motorcycle to bludgeon demons to death," the last part of that explanation was more of an annoyed mutter to skepticism… which everyone in the guild hall still heard quickly, only furthering their bewilderment and intrigue with this tale along with making everyone present (Elfman especially) want to meet Dante in person._

 _"As for the amulets, Vergil already had one because both halves of the amulet were given to him and Dante by Eva. It was something they both treasured after that… 'incident' I brought up, and when pops found out about its true purpose, there was no way in hell he was gonna let Dante keep the other half."_

 _"After all that and two decade's worth of making a career out of killing hellspawn, Dante's job eventually led him to Fortuna Island, where I was born and raised."_

 _"Oh yeah! You_ _mentioned this place back when we first met you, right?" recalled Lucy, "You said it was pretty cut off from society if I'm remembering correctly…"_

 _"You'd be remembering right then," nodded Nero, before continuing, "and since we're on the subject, I should probably make sure you all know the community living on that island had a religion centered around worshiping Sparda."_

 _"They worshipped your gramps?" Natsu asked, eyes slightly wide at this reveal._

 _"Yup. They probably all knew about how he saved humanity's ass and everything. If I had to guess, then Vergil probably made his way there hoping to maybe find out more about Sparda, and before he took his leave he… uh… okay, do I really need to spell this out for you people!?"_

 _"Huh… Oh! So if these guys had an entire religion centered around your grandpa, you must've been living the good life growing up there, huh Nero?" Macaco began, eyes lighting up in realization as he heard this, "They probably treated you like a king while you lived there!"_

 _"...Think less 'king' and more 'social pariah' and you'll be right on the money, man," Was Nero's deadpan response, his expression bored as he hopped off the stool and stood back up._

 _"B-But didn't you just say you were the grandson of their religion's subject of worship!?" asked Lucy incredulously, wondering just why someone of Sparda's bloodline was treated so badly when the Order worshipped the demon he was related to._

 _"Eh, it's stupid, and really not important, either. Besides, I'm trying to explain the clusterfuck that's my family's history to you guys, not wail on about my oh-so-tragic past," Nero dismissed with a wave, the last part of that statement dripping with sarcasm._

 _"Anyway, a few years back, I decided to join up with the Order's knights, partly because they specialized in hunting demons lurking around Fortuna and I wanted to follow in the footsteps of Credo," continued Nero._

 _"Wait, who's Credo?" asked Gray, raising an eyebrow._

 _"Forgot to mention I was an orphan found on a doorstep," recalled the demon hunter, remembering his other family, "See, once 'dear old dad' left, mom couldn't take care of me and left me on the doorstep of a family that took me in. The family was part of the Order so I was brought up in the whole thing. You see, they had two children of their own: Credo and Kyrie."_

 _Nero paused, his right hand subconsciously going to rest on Kyrie's necklace. He shook off the moment of pause and continued, "Credo was part of the Order and was looking to be a good knight, defending Fortuna and his family. I wanted to do the same thing," elaborated the Demon Hunter, "After a few years, Credo was made Captain of the Holy Knight. You'd think the half-brother of the Captain would be a little more liked, but_ _the entire order hated my guts, and the feeling was entirely mutual. I never really saw eye to eye with authority back home and The Order was about as uptight and domineering as you could imagine... which uh... in retrospect, sounds kinda familiar," Nero admitted, scratching his chin as his gaze scanned the many members of the Rebellious Fairy Tail guild all around him._

 _"Even though they hated everything about me though, the order's knights really couldn't afford to get rid of me since I was one of the few guys that actually got results. So fast forward a few years, I'm tasked with capturing 'Uncle Dante' when he bursts in through a stained glass window during the weekly service and... well... pops a cap in the church head's ass," Nero explained after a brief moment's hesitation, pulling out Blue Rose for the sole purpose to mimic firing to really get his point across._

 _"What?!" everyone practically shouted in shock, causing Nero to wince a little, "Why would he do that?!"_

 _"Uh... yeah," chuckled Nero awkwardly while everyone just stared at him in shock, "Turns out the Order was actually dealing with some seriously shady shit behind the scenes in all the years I was growing up there. And I mean really shady. Like... 'megalomaniac wants to conquer the world' kind of crazy, which was why Dante came to the island and why he splattered Sanctus's brains all over the place. Just so we're clear, he was the old bastard in charge of the order."_

 _"Oh, well, okay then," shrugged Natsu calmly, getting over his shock rather quickly._

 _"SO, YOU JUST GET OVER YOUR SHOCK LIKE THAT!?" Lucy exclaimed._

 _"Sure, he just explained why he did it, and it worked for me," Natsu explained evenly._

 _"Yeah, didn't really shed any tears over the old fuck apparently getting his just desserts, he was a fucking asshole even before this mess, but considering I was an active knight at the time, that pretty much required me to hunt Dante down and capture him," explained Nero as he holstered Blue Rose, though mentally he added 'Which is easier said than fucking done.'_

 _"Yeah, Dante and I didn't really meet under the best of circumstances, but by the end of it all, and after saving my ass, we managed to get things straight between us. Then, not long after that, I end up joining up with Devil May Cry, taking the job that whisked me over to Earth Land and the rest, as they say, is history."_

 _"Man, you weren't kidding when you said that your story was crazy," commented Gray, shaking his head._

 _"It's also probably worth noting that during that whole mess was when I got my hands on Yamato **and this big old bastard behind me,"** As Nero said this, his voice took on a more distorted tone and his irises once again went from icy blue to a malevolent red before the same armored entity from before faded into existence behind him after a small burst of blue aura. All of Fairy Tail flinched slightly at the appearance. They could feel the power rolling off Nero now. It was somewhat, dark, consuming, and powerful, but also, despite the appearance, gave some sort of sense of relief._

 _"That phantom again...!" Erza muttered to herself, taken aback by the air of intimidation and power the blue specter behind Nero exuded before readopting her usual calm, "What exactly is that specter behind you, Nero? I understand that it's demonic in nature, but how exactly does it serve you?"_

 _ **"It's called a 'Devil Trigger.' Apparently, any demon can use this ability to release the full extent of their power. Of course, since Dante and I aren't full demons, only hybrids, it works a bit differently for the both of us...,"** Nero explained further, his distorted a demonic voice causing a few mages to shudder slightly, before taking a moment to examine the flawless steel of Yamato's blade... oblivious to how his phantom craned its armored head to look at it as well, while mimicking his movements, **"To actually make use of it, I gotta be hanging on to a demonic weapon called a devil arm. Since I'm using it as a medium to manifest this thing, the big guy behind me would probably look different if I was wielding something other than this sword Apparently, these rules applied to Dante back when he was younger too, but from what I've seen, he's only got one consistent form, and it sure as shit doesn't look like he needs a devil arm to activate them either, so maybe it just gets easier to do with age and experience."**_

 _"And I'm guessing the weapon you're using to manifest it is that katana, correct?" Makarov noted, his gaze planted on Yamato resting firmly in Nero's demonic hand._

 _ **"You'd be guessing right. It's called Yamato, one of the three swords Sparda wielded before he passed them down. It was originally my father's before I got my hands on it, although it's probably worth noting that I found it in the Order Of The Sword's labs with the blade snapped in half. How exactly a sword this powerful ended up in the hands of the order's shady bastards haunts me to this day...,"** Nero contemplated aloud, the image of Yamato's shattered form floating in Agnus's lab still clear in his head, **"Either way, regardless of my daddy issues, I've been making sure to take good care of it ever since Dante entrusted it to me."** And with that said, Nero let his Devil Trigger fade away in a small burst of blue aura and allowed Yamato to dematerialize back into the devil bringer, "So, any other questions?"_

 _"I actually got one. So uh... if you're like quarter demon and got that big scaley demon arm because of it, does that mean your dad and uncle are demonic from the waist up then?" Natsu couldn't help but ask, a rather confused and oblivious tone apparent in his voice while every other member of the guild tried (with varying degrees of success) to repress a groan at such a question._

 _Nero, on the other hand, couldn't help but burst out laughing, keeling over slightly in his seat as he tried to repress his laughter, much to everyone else's surprise. He wasn't sure why, maybe it was just because it was a long day and he was at his limits mentally, but such a stupid and simple question just struck a cord with the descendant of Sparda. After he managed to contain his amusement, he answered the Dragon Slayer._

 _"Good- Snirk-! Uh, not a bad question, all things considered. Pretty valid one too, now that I think of it...!" Nero managed between snickers, an amused smirk on his face, "To give you an answer though, that'd be a no. Honestly, with this damn thing in mind, the two of them probably look more human than me. Although that all kinda changes when Dante uses his Devil Trigger. Unlike me, Dante doesn't get some demonic phantom copying him and instead just straight-up turns into a fucking demon," As he explained this, Nero couldn't help but scowl in mild annoyance as he thought back to the first time he was Dante's demonic form. The power and terror the son of Sparda radiated in such a form could be felt just from being near him... and as though the form's appearance itself and Dante's heavily distorted voice didn't already do that. As it turned out, Dante was actually quite prone to using his Devil Trigger against gruntier demons and any targets that he was out to kill, mainly just to add that extra bit of flair to the battle since it wasn't like the son of Sparda actually needed to use his DT to win most fights._

 _When Nero proceeded to question why Dante didn't use his Devil Trigger when they fought back in the Order's headquarters, the elder demon hunter just ruffled his hair like he was a goddamn little kid and told him that his 'pop would've tried to kill me again if he comes back one day and finds out I scarred his pretty boy son's face!'_

 _...After the truth about his heritage came out, Dante really seemed to come into the role of acting as Nero's 'Crazy uncle Dante,' and he still wasn't sure how to feel about this..._

 _The expression on Nero's face just then made the rest of the guild members all the more curious as to what Dante was like in person and what his demon form looked like... either that or they were unnerved at the thought of getting an answer to such a question._

 _"As far as I can tell, this thing's unique to me," Nero explained, looking down at the palm of the Devil Bringer and it's lightly glowing blue tissue before shrugging, "Then again, I don't exactly know any other quarter demons, so what the hell do I know?"_

 _"Anyway, a few years before I met Dante and all that shit went down, I got into a bit of an accident while on the hunt for some demons. A pretty nasty arm injury. At first, it just looked like my arm had some gross-looking infection, but as time went on, it looked less and less like a rash and more and more like... well... a demonic arm," explained Nero, gripping the wrist of Devil Bringer tightly, "I'll be the first to admit the damn thing drove me crazy, especially considering the entire society I lived in wasn't exactly very excepting of Devils that weren't named 'Sparda,' but by the end of Dante's little business trip to Fortuna, I realized that having it around wasn't so bad. It certainly comes in handy, even if it's a major pain in the ass having to cover it up all the damn time."_

 _Silence soon followed after, each wizard taking it a slightly different way. Natsu was in slight awe, hearing about how badass Nero's family was. True, the demon hunter was a badass in his own right, but after hearing just how awesome his grandfather was, he couldn't wait to meet Dante. But above all, he was gonna challenge Nero at every chance he got to a fight._

 _For Gray, this was a real game changer. Sure he figured that the guy was strong and had to be if what he heard about Demon Slayers were true, even if he was from another world. But hearing that a Demon, a creature from the netherworld, willingly turned on its own, took on the armies of hell, and fought the Princess of Darkness and won, all for the sake of humanity! If he heard the tale beforehand he would've told the person telling it, they were crazy._

 _Erza had a slightly different view and was slightly cautious about Nero now. Sure, she wouldn't judge a person by their appearance or the past without first getting to know the person, but hearing about his past, it changed her view of Nero, but just slightly. She was still curious about what else he might be hiding, and very interested in Yamato._

 _While the Wizards reflected on what was told, Makarov bowed his head and began to think. At first glance, he suspected that Nero was hiding something from them. He was suspicious about the platinum blonde during his fight with Natsu the first day they meet. He could sense the power Nero projected was otherworldly, and it was unlike anything he felt before._

 _"So, that's it," finished Nero, getting everyone's attention, "That's my life story."_

 _"You weren't kidding when you said that your history is messed up," said Lucy, looking at the hunter with a bit of sympathy, having lost a good deal on top of being sent to another plane of existence._

 _"Kinda a running thing to anyone who is related to Sparda," stated Nero grimly as he looked at the gathered mages, "Part demon or not, everyone is a little suspicious of you."_

 _End Flashback..._

* * *

It was true, ever since Nero revealed he was part demon, a few were a little wary of him. But after learning about where he got his demonic heritage from, other wizards were quick to forgive the hunter. Those among his team, which had been renamed to The Devil's Hand, a sort of joke at the expense of Nero.

However, at the moment, a few others were more concerned with themselves. I.E., Natsu and Gray who were pulling themselves out of the ground, still in pain from the hit that was delivered by Erza.

"OW!" the two complained almost at the exact same time, "That really hurt, Erza!"

Happy flew over to them, and asked, "You guys playing whack-a-mole?"

As Macao and Wakaba began to observe the construction site, they noticed something peculiar.

"Hate to say it, but…," Wakaba trailed off.

"It looks a little too big," Macao finished.

"We figured we might as well expand the place. I got the plans right here," Mirajane explained, holding up a big piece of paper.

"Oh yeah," said Macao.

"I wanna see," Wakaba requested.

"I liked it just the way it was!" Natsu chided.

"What's it gonna look like now?" Gray asked.

Mirajane showed them the "designs". It was a crude picture of the soon-to-be Guild Hall drawn in crayon, and it had flowers, bunnies, and fish doodled around it too. The four mages sweatdropped.

"What the?" Macao commented.

"Wow…that looks…great," Wakaba forced; a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

Natsu looked at the "blueprints" blankly, "Uh…which way is up?"

Unlike the other three, Gray had no problem saying his honest opinion on the picture. "Man, these are the worst plans ever. What idiot came up with these?"

Mira smiled for a moment until she instantly turned away and started crying. Gray waved his hands in a placating manner, trying to calm her, "Mira! I…I didn't know it was you!" he said desperately.

"You made her cry," Natsu, Macao, and Wakaba deadpanned.

"That's Gray for yah," Happy noted.

Meanwhile, behind a wall, Juvia was smiling mischievously at the scene, _'My dearest Gray is so cold to other women, yet so warm to me.'_

A half hour later, Master Makarov left for home to take care of some paperwork for the Magic Council, leaving Nero to finish up putting the building's framework together. The Demon Hunter easily finished the job with a little flare of flamboyancy and showboating. He did so with a few other parts of the framing before the hunter decided to clock in when he felt himself get a little hungry.

Dusting his hands off, Nero made his way over to Natsu, Gray, and Happy to a little-secluded area within the construction site. Nero sat on top of a wooden crate, one foot hanging off the side while he lied back. Gray took his seat on a stack of stones that would be used to make up the foundation, while Natsu and Happy stood close by.

"Man," Gray mumbled, "I'm starving."

"I wouldn't say starving, but I definitely go for something," agreed Nero, swinging his leg down as he sat up, "could go for some pizza right now."

At that moment, Natsu, Gray, and Happy all looked at the Demon-Hunter in confusion, before uttering the word, "Huh?"

"You guy's never heard of pizza?" questioned Nero, glancing at them, earning himself a few shaking heads, telling him no. Initially, he was a little confused, but he quickly remembered that this world didn't have the comforts as his world did, so things like pizza and strawberry sundaes didn't exist. But he would be damned if he didn't find a way to fix that problem.

"Right," sighed the Demon Hunter as he got off the crate, "what a pizza is, is a thin or semi-thick disc of bread, with a sauce made from tomatoes, and topped with cheese and whatever else you want."

"Never heard of anything like that before," commented Gray, blinking in confusion.

"Sounds really tasty though," added Natsu, a bit of drool falling out of the corner of his mouth. Happy agreed with his signature 'aye'.

However, the brief moment of peace and rest was interrupted when a jet of water struck Natsu before hitting Gray. But, when it stopped, the ice mage found a pink lunch box in his lap.

"Certainly one way of delivering a box," quipped Nero.

"I'm soaked," Natsu remarked; his clothes were completely drenched.

"Look!" Happy pointed at the pink box, "A lunch box!"

"Where'd it come from?" Gray wondered.

"Not sure I really care as long as there's something edible in it," stated Nero as he folded his arms.

The onyx haired teen opened the box and was shocked at its contents. There was an assortment of many vegetables, fruit, and meat arranged in the shape of hearts and Gray's face. Gray's eyes bulged open as he stuttered incoherently. The others, however, reacted in the opposite fashion.

"Wow! That looks pretty tasty!" Natsu admired.

"Looks like you've got an admirer, Gray," joked Nero, but his tone switched rather quickly, "but I'll admit, this is kinda weird."

"That's so cool! Your face is totally edible." Happy added.

"I can't eat this! It's just too weird!" Gray responded nervously. "I think there's some green stuff oozing out from the side."

True enough, there was a line of green substance oozing out from the side of the pink box. That still didn't deter a certain Demon Hunter and Dragon Slayer from wanting something to eat. After a lot of work, Nero was hungry and wanted something to eat and didn't really care if the food was shaped like Gray's face. Food was food, and he needed to eat something.

"I'll eat it for you," offered Natsu rather quickly.

"No point in it going to waste," added Nero, wanting to eat something.

Behind a stone wall, Juvia was about to break into tears, _'This is heartbreaking! I spent three whole days making that lunch for him,'_ She thought.

Out of nowhere, Erza popped up with an angry look on her face, "WHO SAID YOU COULD TAKE A LUNCH BREAK?!" She yelled, startling the three mages while Nero just sighed and looked back.

"No one said we couldn't," answered Nero casually.

Erza was about to retort, but suddenly and quickly, returned to normal when she noticed the contents of the lunch box, "Hey, is that supposed to be your face made out of veggies?"

She pulled out a fork and stabbed it into the veggies that formed Gray's face, prompting Gray to cry out in horror. The ice mage watched with his jaw dropped as Erza chewed on the piece.

"Your opinion, chef Erza?" asked Nero.

"Mmm…it's good," Titania replied, "I could eat the whole thing."

"If you eat the whole thing, I'm gonna be pissed," cautioned Nero.

With that said, Gray calmed down, and conceded, "I guess I should try it too."

Juvia, meanwhile, was watching the scene with tears welling up as a vision of Gray proposing to her entered her mind.

However, unknown to, well, everyone in Fairy Tail Guild, someone, or rather, something else was watching them.

* * *

 ** _Northern Mountain Range_**

The East River cut through the Northern Mountains, which were all situated just outside of Magnolia. Cut into the side of one mountain was the mouth to a large cave. Some moss and vegetation was growing around the opening, but if one looked carefully, they could see faint burn marks on the ground and walls of the cave.

Caves were known to be frequent places monsters and creatures make their homes in. It provides shelter, a place to sleep and escape the elements, and a place to lure in victims. However, this cave was much different. By which, trails of fire crossed the ground, while torches hung from the walls. From the ceiling, a few stalactites hung down.

The cave was about the size of a concert football field, while at one end, was a stone ledge, rising up off the floor about seven feet. The ledge was about the size of a concert stage. Columns of fire flanked both sides of the stage, while at the center, a stone throne emerged. It appeared to be made from a stalagmite but looked to be smoothed to be similar to marble.

Seated in the stone throne was a figure. The figure appeared to a woman if the curves were anything to go by. She was leaning to the side, resting her head in her right hand as she stared forward right towards a swirling ring of fire, but in the center was an image of Fairy Tail, the mages heard at work, but her focus was on one in particular.

The image changed, focusing on a patch of platinum blond hair, the owner wearing a blue coat, and had his right sleeve, revealing a demonic appendage. Nero.

"What do we have here?" spoke the figure to herself as she adjusted herself in the throne, crossing on leg over her other as she leaned forward with interest, "one of Sparda's boys had a kid."

Her voice was so painfully smooth. Holding an oldfashioned tone, not like that of a noir movie, but a sensual, almost romantic.

Orange eyes flickered with interest when the figure saw Nero's face, "And definitely took after his father's looks."

The figure shifted in her throne to tip her chin in interest. A part of her wanted some revenge, for what his uncle did, but another part was also curious about the hybrid. She wasn't like most demons or demonesses, she took pleasure in watching her prey squirm a little, and it was no secret among demons that the son of Vergil could get a little flustered around beautiful women. And it was common knowledge that Demons, even lesser demons were very social, often working together, never completely alone, so it was safe to say that a part of her wanted to _familiarize_ herself with the grandson of Sparda.

"Now, if only there were a way to bring you to me," said the demoness as she reclined in her throne, however, her eyes flashed when she sensed some wizards approaching the construction site.

They were a few Fairy Tail Wizards. But the fact that they were returning from a quest gave her an opening to make herself known.

"Hello," purred the figure as she leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees as she folded her hands and rested her chin on the entangle fingers, a grin forming on her face, "guess fate's feeling generous today."

From the shadows, several creatures emerged, about thirty in total They were humanoid, at least somewhat, but they were hunched over, black cloaks and bandages covered their frail, thin bodies, even as blades pierced them in multiple areas. Gripped in their hands was a rusty scythe. Each one letting out a haunting groan as they looked up at the being. These creatures were known as Hell Prides. In the Netherworld, these demons are jailers in charge of judging and punishing the souls of those who committed the sin of pride, hence the name.

However, among the gathered a much larger figure appeared. It rose to about twice the size of the Hell Prides. It had glowing blue eyes, a murky glow coming from the mouth while black robes, almost like darkness itself cloaked the body. In its boney white hands was a massive scythe, but unlike the Hell Pride's own scythes, this one had a dark violet blade, pulsing powerfully. This demon was known as the Hell Vanguard, otherwise known as the god of death and is responsible for managing the souls of the dead. It is feared by other demons for its sadistic personality and combat tactics, including the abilities to teleport and fly.

"Bring me the descendant of Sparda," ordered the woman, leaning back in her throne, maintaining her gaze on the portal, the image changing back to Nero, "If this boy is anything like his uncle, then getting him here, is just a matter of _leverage_."

The Hells all bowed before vanishing in either puffs of sand, or in the Vanguard's case, in a swirl of darkness. Once they were gone, the woman looked at the image in the portal,

* * *

 ** _Fairy Tail Construction Site_**

About ten minutes had passed and it was now lunch, meaning that most of Fairy Tails wizards and mages had left to get lunch in Magnolia at one of its many restaurants. Only a handful of wizards, including the Devil's Hand Team, remained at the Guild Hall work site. Erza had insisted they work a little longer before they got something to eat after that lunch box. Currently, Nero was using Spectral Bringer to dig a hole for a new post that would act as the new infrastructure. Erza was standing by surveying his work whilst Natsu and Gray were holding said post, one on either side.

Stepping back and shaking the dirt off Devil Bringer, Nero felt that the hole was now deep enough for the post, "Right, that should deep enough," stated Nero before he nodded to Erza, "ready when you are."

The redhead smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Nero," She turned her gaze to the fire and ice mage, "Natsu, Gray, get the post in the hole."

The pink haired wizard put his end inside the hole, pushing it deeper into the earth. Gray was having difficulty on his end though. The deeper Natsu pushed the timber in, the higher his end got in the air. Soon it was far out of Gray's reach. However, the ice-make mage smirked when he came up with an idea.

 **"Ice Make: Lift!"** Gray chanted.

After a small outburst of frosty air, a crank lift used to lift cars to replacing tires appeared, only it was made of solid ice. He pulled the lever a few times; making the left extend higher and higher until finally, the post fell into place. Erza slid over a bucket of concrete and poured it in the hole while Nero held it in place with Spectral Bringer.

"Smart thinking, Gray," commented Nero.

Natsu huffed, crossing his arms in an indignant manner, "Pft, whatever."

"Hey guys!" a cheery feminine voice called, "We're back!"

The group turned around to see Levy, Droy, and Jet. The trio had made a smooth recovery and their casts had been removed, though they still had some bandages on their arms and legs. Nevertheless, they didn't appear to be in pain anymore.

The Devil's Hand Team, Mirajane, Elfman, Macao, and Wakaba came to greet Levy's team. After their major injuries had healed up, the trio had set out on a mission. Though the master was wary, they had convinced him that they were able enough to go.

"Levy, you're back!" Lucy said happily.

"Glad to see you guys make it back," greeted Nero as he folded his arms, "take it the job went well?"

Levy smiled brightly, "It went great!"

"Yeah, those giant plant monsters were no match for us," Droy boasted confidently.

The blue haired girl smirked, "By 'giant' do you mean little five-foot-tall rose plants that's only power were to cut people with thorns."

Droy and Jet both shrunk.

"It…it…it was still scary!" Jet inserted, "I got cut quite a bit."

"Yeah, there had to be at least a thousand of them!" Droy added desperately.

Levy sighed, "There were only like twenty of them, guys."

Droy and Jet moaned in defeat, "Still, gotta give them points for creativity," quipped Nero, while the others simply laughed in amusement, even Erza giggled a little.

"Ooh…killer little roses!" Natsu mocked, "How scary."

"Why would someone put out a job request for something like that?" Gray asked.

"Believe it or not, those little suckers were tougher than they sound," Levy replied. The smart wizard then switched topics, "Anyways, we got a decent reward out of it, but we also got this."

Levy held up her bag and pulled out a trinket. It was in the form of a five inch long, golden trident with pointed ends. Etched into the trident were different types of silver runes. The relic was attached to a golden chain, meant to go around a person's neck. The wizards and demon hunter looked at the knickknack curiously.

Lucy came forward to inspect it closely, "What is it, Levy?"

Surprisingly, the blue haired mage shrugged, and admitted, "I don't know. I figured it was just some kind of trinket. But those symbols on the ornament resemble ancient magical runes I saw in a book once. I was hoping the master would know what it could be."

"The master is not here at the moment," Erza informed, "He left for his home to fill out some paperwork for the Magic Council."

"Okay, no biggie," Levy responded, "I'll just take it to storage for the time being until he gets back."

She made her way to the basement door with Droy and Jet behind her. However, when she passed Nero, Devil Bringer pulsed for a second, glowing. Nobody noticed the glow as Nero had his arms folded, or the small electric bolt jump from the object and wash over the demonic limb, but the Demon Hunter felt it. Glancing down at the appendage, noting the tingling sensation in his arm.

 _'The hell?'_ thought Nero, but was interrupted from his musings when his stomach grumbled loudly. His stomach wasn't the only one that was running on empty, splitting the lunch box amongst the group hadn't left much for any of them. The rest of his team's stomachs began to growl as well.

"Ugh…Erza, can we go to lunch now?" Natsu whined, "I'm starving."

"Me too," Gray agreed, "I think we've done enough this afternoon, and I can't work on an empty stomach."

The redhead sighed, and conceded, "Very well; besides, I am very hungry as well."

"Aye," Happy moaned, "I need fish in my belly right now!"

"Always going on about fish," Lucy muttered.

The wizards and hunter were getting ready to leave, but Nero suddenly stopped. A pulse ran up and through his right arm. It was rigid but somewhat soothing. The glowing skin underneath the reptilian scales pulsed brightly, "Huh?" he questioned almost dumbly, but the feeling was strong. Very strong. The only times he got these feelings were when Demons were close by.

"Nero, you alright?" asked Lucy, noticing that the hunter frozen in his tracks.

However, before the hunter could answer, he was leaping to the side, just as a shadowy figure burst out of seemingly nowhere with a shower of glass shards. The Wizards all spun around to see the demon hunter roll to the side before spinning around in the air to avoid another attacker that also appeared out of nowhere.

Landing on his feet, Nero had a good look at his attackers and narrowed his eyes at what he saw. Two Grim reaper-like figures groaning as their beady red eyes locked onto Nero. In their hands was a large, rusty scythe.

"Demons," growled the hunter as he now understood the reason for the pulsing.

Erza growled in ire, a sword appearing in her hand as she stretched it out in the direction of the uninvited guests, "How dare you attack our Guild!"

The demons only groaned as they flipped their scythes around.

"They don't care, Erza," interrupted Nero as he draw Blue Rose, "they're demons."

"Demons!?" cried Lucy, "QWhy would they attack us!? In broad daylight!?"

"Demons aren't picky about who, what, or when they attack. Just as long as they spill blood," informed Nero as he adjusted his stance, "though gotta admit, didn't think I'd run into some Hell Prides."

"Huh?" everyone presently in Fairy Tail said in unison

"What are 'Hell Prides'?" asked Natsu.

"Essentially the jailers and punishers for the dead in hell," answered Nero, leveling Blue Rose at the demons, "basically, Hell Prides specialize in punishing people who have committed the sin of Pride."

"I don't care what they are!" snapped Natsu as he gritted his teeth while igniting his fists with fire and charged right towards them, "I'm gonna blow them away!"

"Natsu wait!" shouted Nero, as he tried to stop the Dragon Slayer.

 **Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"** roared the pink haired mage as he lunged right at the demonic beings.

Natsu's punch collided with one of the Hell Pride's jaw, sending it sliding back, but remained standing. Its head was knocked back, but remained somewhat standing. Natsu cocked an eyebrow before the demon looked back, its neck letting out a series of sickening pops and cracks as the creature groaned and set its neck back into place.

"That is just-GAH!" cried out Natsu as the second Hell Pride swung the butt of its scythe right into his stomach. The blow had enough strength to send him careening back where he smashed into an unfinished wall.

"NATSU!" Mirajane cried.

"What the heck was that?" Cana yelled, stunned like everyone else.

"Natsu landed a full blow, but it looked like it barely did anything to it," gaped Levy, her eyes wide with surprise.

"That's because most demons are relatively immune to magic," explained Nero, causing everyone to look at him.

Before anyone could say anything, the heard more shattering noises. The wizards all looked around to see Hell Prides breaking through reality and appearing. Each one letting out a moan as they held their scythes.

"There are more of these things!?" cried out Lucy, in fear as dozens of demons surrounded them.

"Demons are naturally social creatures, especially lesser demons," stated Nero as he gripped Blue Rose. Fixating an angry glare at the monsters attacking their home. If these things thought they could just waltz in here, tear the place apart, and attack his friends, they had another thing coming, "there's never just one."

But before anyone else could say anything, the sky seemed to darken as the shadows grew. All the mages felt a shiver run down their spines, while Nero felt Devil Bringer pulse. Very strong this time.

Narrowing his eyes, he turned to his right to see a swirling mass of shadows, almost like a mist. The mages all tensed when the mass of shadows suddenly pulsed a dark violet before vanishing. On top of a beam, the shadowy mass appeared before vanishing again. This mass teleported a few more times before appearing directly before Fairy Tail. Nero leveling Blue Rose as he recognized the appearance from one of Dante's stories.

The mass let out a terrifying shriek, similar to a banshee, startling the wizards, causing Lucy and Happy to let out a cry of fear at what they saw. The mass took the form of the Hell Vanguard. Clutched in its bony claws was its oversized scythe.

"Just what we needed," groaned Nero, "the Hell Vanguard."

"W-what's a Hell Vanguard?" asked Lucy, her voice shaking slightly.

"Think of it as the god of death, the one in charge for managing the souls of the dead," replied Nero evenly.

"Wait, this thing is a god?!" repeated Gray, looking at the monster before them.

"Of death, yeah," nodded Nero as he kept his focus fixated on the demon before them, "funny thing is, it's supposed to be dead. Killed by my old man when it failed him. Thing tried begging for forgiveness, but the only forgiveness it was given was a quick death."

Erza and the mages all stared at Nero in shock and bafflement. Their eyes were wide and their jaws had dropped. Was Nero suggesting that his father, Vergil, was so dangerous and feared that even the demon god of death was afraid of him?! They remembered how Nero said that his father was dangerous, earning his name as the Darkslayer, but seriously?! How was that possible?!

The Hell Vanguard groaned as it hefted its massive scythe. The monster let out a howl as it suddenly vanished in a puff of shadows before appearing right in front of Lucy and Happy, the scythe raised right above its head. Nero, reacting completely on instinct, darted right towards the two just as they let out a scream of fear and raised Devil Bringer. The Hell Vanguard brought the energy scythe down, but the tip connected with the side of the demon hunter's arm, letting out a sudden flash of energy.

Nero grunted as he held off the sharp point, thankful that the only thing capable of puncturing Devil Bringer was Yamato.

The Vanguard growled as it withdrew the scythe and swung again, Nero blocking the attack like last time. The Hunter glanced over his shoulder, "Lucy! Happy! Get out of here!" ordered the demon hunter as he aimed Blue Rose at the Vanguard's head and fired. But the demon vanished at the last possible second, teleporting away.

The demon god of death reappeared on top of the framing for the new guild hall for Fairy Tail. Nero growled in anger as the mages formed up. Natsu, having regained consciousness and dug himself out of the rubble of the wall shook his head as he looked around.

"What'd I miss?" asked the Dragon Slayer, looking around seeing dozens of demons surrounding them.

"Demons attacking, you tried to fight them, got knocked on your ass, then the demon god of death showed up," summarized Nero as he aimed Blue Rose at the monsters surrounding them.

"Glad the fight's not-wait what?! God of Death!?" demanded Natsu incredulously, turning his back to one Hell Pride.

The Hell Pride took that as an opening and rushed right towards the Dragon Slayer, scythe raised.

"NATSU!" Erza shouted as she rammed into Natsu, knocking them both to the ground just in time to avoid the sharp, rusted edge of the scythe. Nero spun around and fired right at the Demon, nailing it between the eyes. The Demon let out a shriek as its body exploded into sand.

The Hell Vanguard growled as it raised its scythe into the air, howling into the sky. The Hell Prides doing the same. The demons all took fighting stances, each one lowering their bodies to get a better center of gravity. The wizards of Fairy Tail did the same.

"Okay, so how do we beat them if magic isn't gonna work?" asked Gray, feeling very vulnerable when he heard that magic isn't that effective against demons.

"I wouldn't worry too much," stated Nero as he twirled Blue Rose on his finger, before reaching into his pocket and dug out his headset and hung it around his neck, "Besides, this is an opportunity for you guys to see just what kind of job I had before I met any of you."

"Is that supposed to make us feel better!?" demanded Lucy incredulously, looking at the platinum blonde with a bit of aggravation.

"Don't really care what it makes you feel. But it feels good to get back into something I'm familiar with," smirked the Hunter as he turned his phone on and began scrolling through his songs. His phone would've lost power days ago if he didn't find out that Lacrima crystal energy could be used to power batteries, "But let's get down to business."

Once Nero found the song he wanted, he walked away from the ground, "This parties getting crazy!" announced Nero, swinging out his arms, holding his phone in his right hand with Blue Rose in his left, "Let's rock!" With that he pressed play.

 _*DMC3 Dante's Office 7 Hells Battle Soundtrack*_

The headphones suddenly began playing a rock song that Dante had introduced him to a while back. The Hell Prides all growled as they began to converge onto Nero, all the while the Demon Hunter was tapping his foot. One Pride tried to slash at him with its scythe but was stopped Nero caught the blade with Devil Bringer. Maneuvering around the blade, he sent a powerful kick to the demon's stomach, sending it flying back where it smashed into a wall and exploded into sand.

Still holding the scythe blade, he swung the handle into the faces of two Prides that tried to attack him from behind. The handle shattered when it collided with the second Hell Pride, both demon's knocked back. Using the broken blade, Nero grasped the remaining handle and used it a sort of sickle and began to slice up the attacking demons, even cleaving a handle in two.

The mages watched in awe as Nero was going to town on the demons, Erza noting that his fighting style was very raw and savage.

Nero ducked under a few more demons before leaning to the right to avoid a slash from a pride before spinning around in the air to dodged another attack from another demon.

 _"Give us what our mistress demands!"_ hissed the Hell Vanguard, catching the attention of Erza.

"We don't know what it is you want, monster!" retorted Erza, pointing her sword at the monster before she re-quipped into her Flame Empress armor and engaged the Hell Vanguard. She let out a cry as she reared back her sword, preparing to bring it down on her opponent. The Hell Vanguard easily blocked the attack, like so easily that it didn't even budge in the slightest. This Erza's surprised greatly and this opening allowed the Hell Vanguard to suddenly shove her back and vanish into shadows.

The Vanguard suddenly appeared a few yeards away, but let out a powerful howl as it flew right towards Erza, swinging its blade wildly as it slashed at everything in its path, which unfortunately was Erza. The Fairy Queen was knocked back, letting out a cry of pain as he armor was sliced open.

"Erza!" Gray shouted.

He glared at the demon god and got into a fighting stance, placing his right fist over his open left palm, **"Ice Make: Lance!"**

Gray fired a barrage of icy lances at the Vanguard, but the demon simply spun its scythe around in a circle in front of it. The Lances was siced into pieces, coming out as only snow that didn't even harm the demon.

The ice wizard's eyes widened further, not even expecting a demon to have such sharp reflexes.

 _"Give us what our mistress demands!"_ repeated the Vanguard flying right towards the Ice Mage, who, in instinct, jumped out of the way as the scythe blade sliced through the ground like better.

Across the construction site, Elfman was facing off against three Hell Prides, the demons all standing together as the groaned and hissed at the mage. Elfman glared at the demons.

"Look here, there might be more of you than there are of me, but that doesn't make you manlier than me!" stated Elfman in a heated anger. Cocking back on fist, he swung it right towards the center demon. Hell Pride raised its scythe to block the attack but was sent flying back where it crashed into a wall and exploded into sand.

Despite this small victory, there were still two more Hell Prides which attacked when Elfman had his guard down. Their blades sliced Elfman's back and arm.

"Attacking when my back is turned!? What are you, a bunch of weaklings?!" demanded the giant in a fit of anger. The Hell Prides only let out a groan as another Pride joined the two, bringing it back up to three-on-one.

Lucy hid behind a table turned on its side with Levy. She was too scared to fight those demons. Despite having a bunch of keys to help her, they were almost completely magic based and her spirits were formed from magic which was basically useless against demons.

"OH…I'M SO SCARED! WHAT DO I DO? I CAN'T DO ANYTHING!" screamed Lucy in fear.

"Lucy, calm down!" Levy exclaimed, "You're not useless."

"Well what am I supposed to do?" asked Lucy sardonically, "My spirits are made of magic and from what Nero told us, magic isn't effective against demons."

"Quit griping, Lucy," interjected Nero as he flipped over a Hell Pride and shot it in the head, "you're not useless. Just figure out something that works for you. Had a friend back home that didn't have any magic or special tricks, and she could kick demon ass with no problems."

"Well, what do you suggest?" she asked, looking at Nero demandingly. But before the demon hunter could answer, the Hell Vanguard suddenly appeared and used the blunt end of its scythe to bat Nero away. It then turned to both girls who were looking up at it in terror.

The Vanguard lot out a groan as it reached right towards Lucy and grabbed her by the waist.

"NO! LET ME GO!" shouted Lucy as she feebly tried to escape the demon's clutches.

"Lucy!" shouted Natsu as he saw his friend in trouble, "let her go!"

The Vanguard turned to the dragon slayer and raised its scythe with one hand, easily blocking the incoming flaming fist aimed to its head. The demon then flicked its wrist and sent Natsu flying back. Floating into the air, the Vanguard let out a howl, the Prides all turned to the god of death and began backing away from the wizards and demon hunter.

 _"Give us what our mistress wants!"_ hissed the Hell Vanguard as it gripped Lucy.

Erza, who had just recovered from taking a powerful blow from the mystic scythe, stood up from a shallow crater, her flaming sword held up. The Fairy Queen winced as she inspected the slash and her eyes widened when she saw a clear-cut right in her armor. Letting it go for the moment, she quickly spotted Lucy in the grasp of the Hell Vanguard.

"Release her this instant!" Erza commanded angrily, pointing her sword at the Vanguard.

 _"The mistress demands the presence of one_ hissed the Vanguard, maintaining its hold on Lucy, _"Mistress wants to understand it. Comune with it. Explore it."_

"And just what the hell is 'it'," demanded Nero as he aimed Blue Rose right at the Vanguard, his anger at its peak right now.

The demon god of death turned to face the demon hunter, its empty eye sockets didn't even faze the hunter. It could sense the power within. The stench. The essence of Sparda. The demon raised its scythe, but only to point directly at him.

 _"YYYYYOOOOOUUUUU,"_ hissed the monster, causing everyone to look at Nero, who adopted a look of confusion.

"What?" demanded the hunter, "Why the hell does your boss want me?"

 _"To understand,"_ growled the Vanguard, Nero could hear that it wasn't exactly pleased with the prospect of him coming, _"Interact. To familiarize herself with you."_

"If your boss wanted to see me so bad, she could've just come right to me, as most demons did with Dante," countered Nero sardonically, "If she just wants me, then she can have me. Release Lucy first."

 _"No,"_ snapped the Vanguard, causing Lucy to whimper in pain, _"Insurance that you come on her terms. To her domain in the Northern Mountains to reclaim the girl. Fail to come by midnight, then she will be no use to us."_

Erza had had enough as she leaped over the lava trench with her sword cocked back to its zenith. Nero joined in as he leaped right towards the Vanguard, Spectral Bringer appearing as he let out an enraged cry. Erza did the same as she held her sword above her head. However, before either warrior could get close, the Vanguard and all the Hell Prides suddenly vanished. Leaving Erza and Nero to strike the Earth.

"WHAT!?" roared Nero as he looked around wildly.

The redhead's eyes immediately widened from surprise; the Hell Vanguard appeared to possess teleportation magic, which would explain how it appeared and how it and the Hell Pride's vanished. She looked around and there were no signs of the Vanguard or Prides, or more importantly, Lucy.

Titania glanced back at her friends with a frown. The situation was not good at all.

As for Nero, well, he didn't take it well at all as he punched the ground in rage, letting a scream of anger.

* * *

 _ **Northern Mountain Range**_

Things had gone much better than what she had hoped, however, the loss of a few Hell Prides was still fresh, but lesser demons were expendable. And they served their purpose for giving the blood of Sparda a reason to come after her.

The demoness sat in her throne, dismissing a window she was using to survey the battle. So far, she was not surprised that Fairy Tail struggled to battle the Hell Prides. Demons had a natural resistance to magic. As for Devils, well, you might have more luck killing them with a stick than magic.

The demon lady glanced up when she saw a collection of shadows, as well as cracks in reality. She smirked as she saw that the Vanguard had returned as did the remaining Hell Prides.

"Let me go!" demanded the little girl, caught in the Vanguard's clutches. However, she let out a startled yelp when she was dropped by the Vanguard.

 _"The bait has been brought, mistress,"_ said the demon god as it bowed respectfully, the Prides doing the same.

"Well done," purred the demoness. Lucy froze as she turned around to see a figure seated in a throne. Seated there was a shadowy figure, the demoness that controlled the Hell Vanguard and Hell Prides.

"Who are you? What do you want?" asked Lucy, mustering up some courage but faltered when the figure just chuckled.

"Trying to be brave and show some backbone?" taunted the demoness as her red eyes locked onto Lucy, the Celestial Mage wanting to shrink back under the intense look, "But to humor one of your questions, I don't want you. I want the one you know as Nero."

"If you wanted Nero, why did you take me?" asked the blonde as she got to her feet. She knew she couldn't run anywhere but that didn't mean she had to stay on the hard ground.

"To give him an incentive to come to me," replied the demoness casually as she adjusted herself in her throne, "by making him come here, he will have to adhere to my rules."

Lucy smirked, "I wouldn't be too sure of yourself. If there's one thing you don't wanna do, it's to underestimate Fairy Tail."

"A Guild of Mages who fights with and, essentially, only magic," reminded the demon mockingly, causing Lucy's previous confidence to fade even more, "But I will admit, the redhead might actually be a problem."

As the demoness said that, she created a window, peering in to see the remainder of Fairy Tail, still at the construction site. Each one talking, however, the focus of the window was on one individual. Nero.

"But it's the grandson of Sparda that is the goal," purred the demoness. Lucy's expression changed to incredulous as she saw the demon's look. The demon noticed this and waved her hand right at the Blonde wizard. From the ground, stone tendrils grabbed her by her wrists and pulled her down.

"HEY!" yelled Lucy as she was forced to her knees.

"Keep an eye on her," ordered the demon to two Hell Prides as the ground around Lucy cracked before lifting up and floating in the air. The Prides then used their scythes to pierce the stone beneath Lucy and guided the struggling Celestial Mage away.

Once Lucy was out of sight, the demon directed her attention back to the window, focusing on Nero, "While I keep mine on the prize."

* * *

 ** _Fairy Tail Guild, Construction Site, Magnolia_**

Back at the unfinished Fairy Tail Guild Hall, most of the present mages were beginning to panic. Why shouldn't they? Several dozen demons attacked, along with the demon god of death. Not to mention, Lucy had been kidnapped and, apparently, the one behind it wanted Nero and they didn't really know what happens to their friend if they refused.

"Oh no!" panicked Levy, "This is bad!"

"Bad? BAD?! This is horrible!" Natsu shouted indignantly, really sore about getting blindsided so badly.

"We got our asses handed to us by those... those... THINGS!" Added Gray, equally pissed off.

"Not to mention, they've got Lucy," added Happy, "and we just got her back!"

"Real men finish their fights!" growled Elfman, extremely angry that the demons abandoned them, "And they don't take hostages!"

Natsu growled as he clenched his fists, smoking coming off them as his anger increased, "I'm gonna make those demons pay for what they did!" snapped the Dragon Slayer angrily, "They think they can just trash out Guild Hall and steal our friend and get away with it?!"

"And what you do about it? Throw fire at them?" mocked Gray condescendingly, "In case you've forgotten, magic doesn't work on them."

"Pretty big talk from a guy who can't keep his clothes on for more than a minute," retorted the pink haired Dragon Slayer. Gray immediately freaked out when he realized his pants were gone. Before the two could argue further, another timber post slammed into their heads, courtesy of Erza. The blow knocked Gray and Natsu to the ground, both groaning in pain.

"ENOUGH!" she yelled, her eyes blazing with fury, "We don't have time for this, you two." Erza let go of the lumber and swiftly re-quipped into her Heart Kreuz armor and got everyone's attention.

"Everyone, calm down," Erza commanded loudly, "panicking is not going to solve anything!"

Nero, who had left for the group for a minute returned with Red Queen, resting on his shoulder. The Demon Hunter had been thinking about what happened and what might happen. However, that wasn't saying much as his anger was peaked at the moment, and right now, he was done sitting around.

The Demon Hunter snorted as he turned away from the group, "If you guys plan on sitting around with your thumbs up your asses, count me out," stated Nero as he sheathed Red Queen across his back and turned away from the group and started walking away.

"Nero, where are you going?" demanded Erza, noticing the platinum blonde leaving and intercepted him.

"What's it look like?" asked the hunter sarcastically, looking the Fairy Queen dead in the eye, "getting Lucy back."

"We need to work together as a team," stated the redhead.

"As it worked so well the first time," snorted Nero in disdain, "in case it has failed your notice, that didn't work, and if you were listening, you'd know that demons are immune to magic and last I checked all of your armors are magic based. So, how about you let a professional do his job and get out of my way."

Everyone in Fairy Tail sweat dropped at Nero's ballsy statement. Erza just starred at the demon hunter in front of her. It was no surprise that Nero would back-talk her, but still, she was taken aback by the harsh order.

"What did you say?" Erza growled, her anger steadily rising.

"What's going on here?" an elderly voice asked.

The Guild turned to see Master Makarov standing at the unfinished entrance of the building. He was wearing a white shirt, orange pants, and jacket, and an orange/blue stripped jester-like hat. He glanced around at the damage done from the fight between the Hell Prides/Vanguard and Fairy Tail, frowning.

The dwarf-sized master then noticed that Lucy was missing from the group. It didn't take him long to deduce that Lucy might have been taken hostage by the damage of the area. Lucy getting kidnapped was something he hoped wouldn't become a regular thing.

"Master," the Fairy Tail mages yelled together as they ran toward Makarov, Nero remained rooted where he was as his team headed the pack.

"Hmm...," hummed the old master as he looked at those gathered, "I take it that Lucy was abducted...again."

"Yes," nodded Gray as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Makarov's expression then became serious, "What happened here?" He asked evenly.

Erza then began to explain everything in chronological order from how the Guild was suddenly attacked by demons, discovering that magic wasn't effective against demons Nero fought regularly, and lastly Lucy getting taken hostage and held until Nero agreed to meet the demon's mistress. Nero would on occasion add his own input, usually from the edge of the group.

"And these demons are immune to magic?" repeated Makarov looking right at Nero. The master's eyes widening ever so slightly at the prospect of creatures being immune to magic.

"More like they have a high resistance to, which is the reason why magic isn't normally used against them," corrected the demon hunter, "the resistance can vary depending on which magic is used against them. But when it comes to Devils, magic is practically worthless."

"Huh?" everyone remarked simultaneously.

"What's the difference between a demon and a devil?" inquired Gray curiously.

"A demon; or lesser demon is more instinct based, like the Hell Prides," elaborated Nero, knowing that he had to clear things up a bit, "Devils are more powerful demons, usually taking on names for themselves, and are far crueler and just more evil than demons."

"But something doesn't add up," said Levy, "why would a devil want you?"

"Demons and devils have a severe dislike of Sparda when he betrayed them for humanity," he answered, "many of them swore revenge and to destroy any trace of him."

"That still doesn't explain why they took Lucy," reminded Macao.

"Because whoever this Devil is, knows that it can't take me on up front," clarified Nero as he closed his eyes before looking to the entire team, "It's my job to kill demons and that means taking on things much more powerful than me. My uncle should know because he's been a demon hunter for much longer than me and from what he's said about the job, only the best do it."

The remainder left Fairy Tail in a moment of silence. Nero on a few occasions that he talked about his life in his home world, would state how dangerous it was hunting demons, how it was a seldom job not for the faint of heart or squeamish. It was kill-or-be-killed, and mercy had to be forgotten in order to survive an encounter with a demon because more often than not, a demon knew no mercy.

"Then it is settled," glowered Erza, as she turned back to Nero, "we will rescue Lucy and end the threat of these demons."

"How? It's kinda hard since their immune to magic, and all we use is magic!" pointed out Gray, bringing up a valid point.

"Yeah, demons might be resistant to magic, or the kind of magic being used, but all demons share a common weakness," interjected Nero, gaining their attention, "that weakness is steel."

"Wouldn't that mean that Erza could go because she uses a ton of swords?" asked Happy, glancing at the Fairy Queen.

"Yes," nodded Erza, "my swords are made of steel. If we're going to rescue Lucy, then I must limit the use of my magic to basic swords."

"Wait, 'we'?" caught the demon hunter as he looked at Erza, "I don't recall there being a 'we' in this."

"There is now," she stated as the mage stood in front of Nero, "I'm not sitting by while my teammate is being held captive and is in danger."

"Demons always work at an angle, Erza," countered Nero as he met Erza's intense stare, "Even though it wasn't specifically stated, I'm guessing that Lucy might not be in the best of health if you're caught with me."

The Queen of the Fairies huffed lightly as she replied, "Don't worry. I have a plan; besides, I have to go with you. It seems this demon has an innate interest in you and is likely preparing for you. You would need my aide."

Nero let out a long sigh as he runs the fingers of Devil Bringer through his hair. Thinking back to when Trish or Lady would butt in on a job of his once in a while. While he didn't mind the concern, what he did mind was people trying to help him when he could handle things like this himself. But if he knew Erza, and he did for a while now, she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"You're coming with me whether I like it or not?" deadpanned Nero, giving the mage a pointed look.

"Yes," stated Erza firmly.

"Fine," huffed Nero as turned on his heel and began to leave, "try to keep up."

* * *

 _ **Northern Mountain Range, Magnolia**_

Several hours had passed and night time was drawing close. The stars were twinkling while a waxing gibbous moon glowed brightly in the dark sky. Nero was walking beside Erza, the two had left the others behind as their only real means of doing damage involved magic, which was a bit useless in this situation. Even then, Natsu still tried to go, stating that he wasn't going to miss out on a rematch. But a glare from Erza was all that was needed to make the Dragon Slayer change his mind.

Following a worn trail through the forest, the two were headed right for the large cave entrance specified by the Hell Vanguard. But they were about a few more minutes away from their destination. It had taken much longer than previously thought to get to the cave and on the way, they ran into a few lesser demons, mainly Hell Prides.

"You got a plan on getting in without being seen?" asked Nero suddenly.

"Not quite," answered Erza, who didn't really like to admit she didn't have a full thought out plan.

"'Not quite' as in you have a plan but haven't worked out the kinks yet or 'not quite' like you haven't a clue?" asked Nero sardonically giving Erza a skeptical look.

Erza shot Nero a glare, telling him to be silent, but the demon hunter just scoffed, "I'll take it's the second one."

Before Erza could retort, the trail the two were following led to a thick patch of buses. She gave Nero a hand signal, telling him to be quiet as Titania peeked through the leaves and spotted the mouth to the cave. It was about a few hundred meters away from where they were.

"The cave is just ahead," whispered Erza, before glancing back, "there appears to be some Hell Prides guarding the entrance."

"Figures," snorted Nero as he took out Blue Rose and opened the cylinder. Checking that all the chambers had a bullet and finding that they are, snapped the gun shut, "Well, time to introduce myself."

"Stop!" ordered Erza, as she put herself in front of the platinum blonde narrowing her eyes, "We need a plan."

"I have a plan," reassured Nero with a confident grin as he folded his arms.

"What exactly is that plan?" she demanded, lightly growling that he didn't seem to be taking the situation seriously at all.

Nero just chuckled as he shook his head, "My plan is simple: wing it."

Before she could even respond Nero dashed right by her and headed for the cave. Erza was about to give chase when noticed a sheet of paper fluttering down right in front of her. Grabbing it out of the air, she looked down at the paper and just narrowed her eyes.

On the paper, it said: wait for a little before making an entrance.

* * *

Inside the cave, the demon lady was waiting patiently, knowing that the son of the Darkslayer was on his way. It was so cute, the descendants of Sparda going out of their way to protect humanity. In the last few hours, she had prepared for their meeting, getting a few more Hell Prides under her control thanks to the Hell Vanguard.

The Hell Vanguard wasn't killed, contrary to what one might think, being sliced to pieces by the Yamato, courtesy of Vergil during his quest for power. She had found the injured lesser demon and took it in, as her servant of course. For years, she had been thinking of going after Dante for what he did to her sister, but when the opportunity to hurt him through his nephew and only biological family came up. It was too good an opportunity to pass up.

That being said, she wanted to prepare for his arrival, sending a few Prides to track his movements. However, that was hours ago so she could only assume that Nero had dealt with them. But to little consequence.

Around the cave, nearly a thirty Hell Prides waited patiently for her order. By her side was the Hell Vanguard, floating menacingly but still differed to her. The Demon God of Death timidly turned to her, _"Perhaps the spawn of the Darkslayer is not coming."_

"No," responded the demon lady as she glanced over her shoulder at the demon, the Vanguard shrinking back. The orange glow from her eyes was unnerving, "He will come. It's not in his nature to leave behind his allies."

As if one cue, footsteps could be heard echoing through the cave. A few groans fluttered through the air as six Hell Prides escorted Nero into the cave. The Demon Hunter sized up the situation, chalking up the situation to about 'not great, but not terrible'.

"Well, well, look who has arrived?" queried the demoness as her focus locked right on to Nero, "The prodigal son."

"Skip the formalities lady," snapped Nero as he felt his left-hand twitch, itching to grab Red Queen and just go off on these monsters, "I'm here like you wanted. Where's Lucy?"

The demoness didn't answer Nero but instead waved her hand, "Minions, would you please...?"

Two Hell Prides marched forward, Lucy held in place the entire time. As soon as she was brought forward, the stone crumbled into rubble and Lucy fell to the ground, "Hey! Give someone a little warning!" The Celestial mage glared at the demoness before she saw her demon hunter friend standing before her, "Nero?"

"You know, you getting abducted all the time is getting kinda stale, Lucy," teased Nero playfully.

"What are you doing here?!" she demanded, seeing that the Hell Prides were closing in around Nero.

"Saving your ass that's what," answered the hunter as he gave the blonde a reassuring smirk, before turning his attention to the demon lady, "I'm here like you wanted."

"That you are," smirked the demon, as she stood from her throne, "I always imagined that you would be smarter than this. Then Dante, coming alone."

"I did want to go alone," interjected Nero as his smirk grew as the roof of the cave suddenly collapsed, "but then again, my friends don't exactly listen to me."

Through the smoke, Erza flew into the cave, attired in her Heaven's Wheel Armor. Without warning, she reared back the sword in her hand and threw it. The Spear flew right for demon lady but was swatted aside by the Hell Vanguard.

"What?!" snapped the demon lady as she shot up from her throne.

"Erza, Lucy: take on the Prides and Vanguard," ordered Nero as his left hand went right towards Red Queen and grabbed the handle, "I got this."

Erza nodded as she faced the Hell Prides. The Hell Vanguard let out a howl as it flew right towards the redhead. It's blade clashing with Erza's swords as it shoved her to the ground, the Fairy Queen holding herself even as her heels dug a small trench. Lucy rushed over to her friend for protection.

This left Nero alone to deal with a few dozen Hell Prides that stayed with their mistress to protect her while the others assisted the Vanguard. The Prides that remained surrounded Nero but the demon hunter only smirked as he unsheathed Red Queen. Using powerful sword, he deflected a scythe from one Pride before countering by decapitating it, the lesser demon letting out a howl as its body collapsed into dust.

Ducking to the left, he dodged another swing from a Hell Pride before leaping into the air, using the back of another demon as a springboard to increase his height. Spinning around in the air, he drew Blue Rose with Devil Bringer and fired at three Hell Prides. The Thorns tore through the monsters as they exploded into dust.

The demoness watched with growing anger. She was so close! How could she underestimate this abomination so greatly?! However, that didn't matter, what mattered now was her revenge. Damn getting to know this brat.

The Demoness raised her hands, orbs of fire erupting in the palms. She let out a scream of anger as she pointed her hands at Nero and blasted a massive stream of fire at the demon hunter. Nero just having dealt with a Hell Pride was barely able to leap out of the way to let the stream of fire strike the ground just in front of him. The stream exploded in a massive fireball that shook the cave, causing some cracks to form along the ceiling and ground.

"Nice trick," complimented Nero mockingly as he rolled to his feet to take a look at the aftermath before turning back to the demoness. Once he did, he squinted his eyes when he saw the demoness's face. She looked incredibly human. Wearing a tight leather vest with a large hole located right at her midriff, showing off a generous amount of cleavage. She also had two dark red straps wrapped around her biceps while her hands had red gloves. The demon also wore tight, form-fitting dark red, leather pants that didn't hide any of her curves. But what stood out most, besides the obvious pyrokinesis was the long, fiery red hair that reached all the way down past her waist and to her shins. The hair almost flickered like fire, but her face caught his attention. She had absolutely no blemishes, round cheeks, full lips topped with black lipstick, and amber eyes. It was the face that gave Nero the hint about who this was.

"Hey," realized Nero as he sheathed Red Queen for a second, completely forgoing the fight to make a small comment, about who he was fighting, "are you related to Nevan?"

"Smart boy," snapped the demon lady, "Yes, Nevan is my sister. I am Volcana: The Fire Witch."

"So that's why you looked so familiar," said the demon hunter as he smacked his forehead, he should've recognized the way she talked. Dante had told him about the gatekeepers he fought in Temen-ni-gru years ago. He ran into the demoness or the correct term, Dearg-dul (this is an actual thing, look it up), a Vampire that originates from Irish myth who seduces humans down the dark path to Hell, "You looking to get some payback for Nevan, cause last I heard, she was doing pretty good."

Instead of answering Volcana blasted another stream of fire at Nero, forcing the demon hunter to retreat. Meanwhile, Erza and Lucy were in a bind as the redhead constantly had to keep her guard up as Hell Prides kept attacking while the Vanguard would occasionally attack in a wild rush. Erza was easily able to outmaneuver his attacks by flying around in her Heaven's Wheel Armor. Lucy, however, just kept her attention up and avoided the attacks by dodging.

The Hell Vanguard let out a howl as it swung its scythe at Erza, the glowing blade sliced right into the ground when it missed Titania who dodged it by flying into the air. While in the air, Erza retaliated by quickly summoned a few dozen swords around her. "Dance, my blades!" The blades around her began to spin rapidly. **"Circle Sword!"**

The sword took a disk formation and launched straight at the Vanguard and a few Hell Prides: however, the Vanguard was ready and spun its scythe around so fast it was a blur and the instant Erza's blades struck the spinning weapon, they shattered into pieces. However, the Hell Prides weren't so lucky as six were impaled and exploded into sand. Despite taking out the Prides, Erza was shocked to see her blades break so easily when contending with the Vanguard.

 _'The Vanguard is more powerful than I realized,'_ thought the Fairy Queen, _'However, Nero did say that steel was a demon's weakness.'_

In short, her best bet to beat the Vanguard was to be smart and treat it like she would a human opponent: counter its scythe, dodge its attacks and keep Lucy safe. Easy.

Nero dodged another blast of fire from Volcana, sliding across the stone floor on his knees while he leaned back and cranned his head back as the stream of fire surged just over him. Jumping up, Nero performed a corkscrew in the air to avoid the scythe of a Hell Pride. Whilst still in the air, the demon hunter swung Red Queen around and sliced another Hell Pride in half.

Landing back down on the ground, Nero sheathed Red Queen and whipped out Blue Rose. He sprinted towards a Hell Pride, ducking under one that tried to slice him in half along the way and shot the demon in the shoulder. The monster let out a howl of pain before Nero grabbed its arm with Devil Bringer and flipped around using the Hell Pride as leverage. Nero aimed Blue Rose at the previous Hell Pride, the one that tried to slice him in two and shot it right in the head.

Maneuvering himself around, he wrapped his legs around the Hell Pride's throat and flipped himself and the demon around and fired another round at a second Hell Pride, also shooting it in the head. Seeing that he had tortured the poor demon enough, Nero swung the Hell Pride he had been using as leverage and threw it into the air. Planting his feet firmly on the ground, he shot the demon mid-air before he was forced to backflip away from a stream of fire.

"Impressive reactions time," complimented Volcana as she focused her attention on Nero, "perhaps you are worth taking."

"Yeah, not into the dominating type," quipped Nero as he steadied himself, "besides, I doubt my friends would like you too much."

Nero suddenly shot towards Volcana, Red Queen raised, however, the demoness was ready as she raised both her hands and slammed them into the floor. A result fireball erupted around her, however, Nero saw it at the last second and used Devil Bringer's claw to latch on the ceiling and pull himself away just as the flames licked his boots. Perched on the ceiling, Nero shot back down when the flames subsided and collided with Volcana, smashing himself in her chest with his shoulder, knocking them both down to the ground where a large crater was formed.

Volcana let out a pained cry as Nero flipped off and landed back on his feet. Narrowing her eyes, she got back to her feet in time to dodge Nero who dashed towards and brought Red Queen down, smashing the stone again. Nero spun around to slash at the demoness again but hit nothing. Looking around, he noticed that his opponent had vanished. He knew better than to assume she retreated, due to how eager she had appeared when she first saw him. Looking around while keeping the Hell Prides that were after Erza and Lucy, along with the Vanguard, Nero tensed as he felt something coming.

Almost an instant later, Volcana appeared through a blast of fire and pressed both her palms to his chest. A stream of fire blasted Nero away, the flames doing more damage at point blank range. Nero tumbled across the ground, but managed to right himself and come into a crouch, resting Devil Bringer on the ground for support.

"Dammit," he growled as the demon hunter glared at Volcana. The hunter than had to quickly jump to the right as to avoid a large flaming boulder that was sent right at him.

The boulder crashed down, casting up a large cloud of dust and smoke. The demoness studied the smoke, thinking that she had crushed the son of the Darkslayer, however, was quickly disproved when Nero shot out of the dust cloud with Devil Bringer outstretched, Spectral Bringer just ahead of it.

The spectral appendage slammed into Volcana's face catching her by surprise before she was suddenly pulled right towards Nero. She stumbled forward slightly into Nero where he grabbed her shoulders and slammed his knee into her stomach, causing her to let out a cry and doubled over onto his knee; but Nero wasn't letting up as he released his hands from her shoulders and wrapped them around her waist and lifted her up into the air. While in the air, he slammed the demon lady down in a move not dissimilar to a wrestling move aptly named the powerbomb.

Volcana growled as she get back to her feet just in time to avoid Red Queen from Nero. The sword collided with the ground where she previously lay. When she was back on her feet, Volcana let out a scream of fury, her body erupted in a massive fireball that blasted Nero back. The demon hunter's boots slid across the stone floor while he used Devil Bringer to slow himself.

Smoke came off the hunter's coat while a few burns covered his face and left arm were already healing. Glancing up, Nero glanced up to see Volcana glaring right at him. Her body had flames coming off it as she panted, not in exhaustion, but anger.

"I'm done playing around!" shouted Volcana as the flames around her exploded. Nero had to shield his eyes for a second as the flames became brighter and more intense.

When he looked back, the Demon Hunter cocked an eyebrow. Volcana's skin was previously a light tan, but still caucasian. Now, it had turned red, her hair had turned into flames while her eyes were completely glowing red. The flames around her body burned brighter and hotter. So much so that the stone floor was actually melting under the intense heat.

"Guess you got a trigger too, huh?" quipped Nero as he stood up and brushed some soot off, "I better step my game up."

Energy coursed around Nero's body before erupting in a bright flash. The demon hunter thrust Devil Bringer into the air while the Specter appeared behind him. The Specter mimicked his movements as Yamato appeared in his hand.

 _ **"Let's dance!"**_ shouted Nero as he flourished Yamato, the Specter mimicking his motions before dashing towards Volcana. The Demoness rocketed towards him by blasting streams of fire from her heels.

Nero raised Yamato, the Specter copying him as he swung down just as Volcana sent a right uppercut. The two opposing forces of power collided, which exploded out in a conflagration of flames and Azure energy, at the center, the two warriors were pushing against each other. Nero suddenly pushed Volcana back, causing the demon to stumble back while he sent a sudden wave at her. Volcana just managed to dodge by blasting streams of fire from her hands that sent her rocketing up, leaving the wave to slice through a Hell Pride that was at the wrong place and wrong time and was blown to pieces when the wave collided and exploded.

Volcana spun around in the air and sent two streams of fire at Nero. The demon hunter dodged the attack by dashing to the right, his image a slight blur. While still in the air, Volcana raised her hands and a large boulder erupted from the ground. The boulder then ignited in flames as the demon lady let out a yell and sent the flaming rock right at Nero. Nero didn't look worried, in fact, he looked excited. Quickly dismissing Yamato, the Specter sheathing its own blade in the organic sheath attached to its left arm before resuming in mimicking Nero's movements.

Pulling Devil Bringer back, the appendage started glowing brightly as Nero channeled power into it. The Specter did the same as its own fist started glowing brightly. With a powerful yell, the hunter and specter sent a powerful blow right towards the incoming boulder. As a result, when the Specter's fist connected, cracks shot across the surface of the boulder while a cyan glow shined through the cracks before the boulder exploded into rubble.

As the pieces of debris fell, the attack was actually just a distraction as Volcana shot through the dust and landed a full blast right towards Nero's chest. The Demon Hunter was blasted back because of the force of the fire but was hardly fazed.

Growling in anger, Nero sent Spectral Bringer at Volcana, hoping to catch the demon, but the ethereal appendage missed her as the demoness suddenly vanished in a burst of flames. Looking around, Nero was taken off guard when she suddenly reappeared directly over him, floating in the air thanks to the jets of fire from her heels and threw down a large fireball. The ball of flames slammed down right in front of the hunter but missed as he leaped into the air right towards Volcana.

His eyes glowed bright red as the Specter unsheathed Yamato while Nero resummoned the magical sword. With nowhere to go and unable to dodge in time, Volcana took the full on blow of the demon hunter smashing his shoulder into her abdomen. While they were still suspended in the air, Nero swung Yamato viciously at the demoness, the blade slashed into her skin causing her to cry out.

However, he was far from done as the hunter slashed back down, the force of the blow, coupled with the power from the Specter sent Volcana back to the stone floor where she collided with the ground. The Demon was back on her feet but wasn't allowed any breathing room as Nero was on the offensive again. He landed a quick one-two punch to her jaw, causing her to stumble back. Pushing forward, the platinum blonde swung in a downward left diagonal slash before following up with a quick upward cut. He spun around, swinging Yamato down again, the blade leaving a purple streak as it went by. Raising the blade one more time, the sharp edge glowing brightly with energy, Nero let out a powerful yell, his Devil Trigger making it sound like a monsters roar as he swung Yamato as hard as he could.

The result was staggering as when the blade was brought down it's sound was something otherworldly. Normally when a sword is swung, there is a small whistling sound as the blade cuts through the air. However, when Yamato was swung, the whistle was replaced with a soul ripping metallic clang as a deep purple slash was left in its wake.

Volcana was knocked back several yards as she cried out in pain, demonic blood dripping from her cuts but remained standing if only briefly. Nero saw that she was about to fall and against his better judgment, rushed over to her, his devil trigger fading as he used Devil Bringer to catch her as she leaned back.

Volcana's own Devil Trigger vanishing as her skin turned back to its original tan color while her hair returned to normal. The Demoness let out a gasp as she struggled to lean up and saw Nero supporting her.

"Charmer, just like your uncle," complimented Volcana as she rested her left hand on his right shoulder. A sultry smile forming on her lips as she saw a reflection of Dante, not Vergil. Either way, it wasn't going to save him. Volcana suddenly shot up. A hiss escaping her as she bared her teeth. But like his uncle, Dante, it was a tactic that Nero saw coming as well. Whipping out Blue Rose from his holster, he jammed the muzzle right into her stomach and fired.

Volcana let out a gasp as she fell back limp in his arm. Nero shook his head, "Somethings are more alike than you realize," he quipped before his expression hardened as he remembered Erza and Lucy, "now call off your dogs before I empty another one into yah."

"They were never my minions, they only referred to me as 'mistress' because they're lesser demons," gasped Volcana as she steadied herself, but maintained her hold on Nero, "It was a partnership between us. Now that I'm defeated they'll kill me too."

"Well that's just great," muttered Nero as he was about to let go of the demon and help Erza and Lucy, but was stopped when he felt a hand on his cheek. Looking back, he saw Volcana looking at him, a smile on her face.

"But I have a good feeling about you," stated the demoness, causing Nero to raise an eyebrow, "which is why I'll help you."

"That right?" questioned Nero sarcastically, however, was taken by surprise when Volcana stood up fully and wrapped both arms around his neck. For a second, he almost shoved Volcana off, but a part of him was telling him not to. And it was that part that won out as he holstered Blue Rose.

"Of course," swore Volcana as she rested her hand on one of his cheeks and pressed herself against him. Letting out the faintest of moans as she felt how firm his body was, "and if you've been around Dante long enough, then you know what you get when you prove yourself to a devil."

Nero blushed slightly as he felt Volcana's 'assets' pressing against his chest, "Mmmm, such a gentleman," cooed the demoness as she ran her fingers through his hair, "your grandfather was a handsome devil, and your father was no slouch either."

"So what does that make me?" asked Nero dumbly and mentally berated himself for asking a question like that. Especially when Volcana raised up her left leg and wrapped it around his right and pushed her core into his pelvis. Nero's face blushed brightly, especially when she leaned in and their noses were almost touching, a lustful look in her eyes while she gave him a coy grin.

"A charming, cute young man," whispered Volcana, "one that deserves a kiss from a beautiful woman."

Before Nero could even register what she had said, the demoness's eyes shut as she pressed her lips against his, catching the Demon Hunter completely off guard. The hunter had no real experience with women, the only one being Kyrie but she was different as in he knew what she was like and how to talk to her before they became a couple. And most women in the Order avoided him, either because he was rude or because he didn't know how to approach them. So this demon lady completely took him by surprise with this action.

Volcana deeply enjoyed this decision. Sure she was giving up her soul to her target, but it wouldn't matter. She had her fun and he proved himself to be a worthy master. It also wasn't a problem that she felt a massive rush from kissing him that took her breath away.

The Demon Hunter, while still taken by surprise managed to regain himself enough to try to push Volcana off, but the demon wasn't going to have it. She hopped up and wrapped her legs around his waist causing him to stumble back while she managed to pry his mouth open with her tongue and started to explore his mouth.

"I...said...you'd...get...my...soul," said Volcana, between kisses, smiling deviously and mentally laughing at Nero's bright red face. She turned his head to the side and began a long sensual lick that started at the base of his neck right up to his brow before taking his lips with hers once more, "never...said...how!"

She did make good on her promise as he body began to light up in flames. Even as the flames consumed Volcana's body, the demon lady never let up on her passionate and rather aggressive make out session. The flames from her body washed onto Nero's, Devil Bringer lighting up as it began to absorb her power and soul. The azure blue skin of the demonic appendage started to change color, becoming a fiery orange. Even as this was going on, Volcana never stopped with her oral examination of Nero's mouth.

The demon hunter felt a little violated but pretty glad that Erza and Lucy were too busy with the Hell Vanguard and Prides to notice the demon lady frenching him. Also, a tiny part of him, the unprofessional part that was likely a product of hanging out with Dante too much sort of like this. And he didn't get the vibe that Volcana was taking him for a runaround. So if she was going to surrender herself this way, fine. He moved his hands to her rear and gave her cheeks a firm squeeze, a gesture that caused Volcana to moan into the kiss.

"Guess you're a player after all," quipped the demonic woman as she broke the kiss, "I hope you'll think of me. Especially on those cold, lonely nights." As she said that, her body began turning into fire but maintained it's firmness though it was fading quickly.

"You ever cool down?" shot back Nero, a smirk forming.

 _"No,"_ stated the demon lady in a husky tone as she leaned in for one last kiss, moaning as she slipped her tongue back into his mouth while her eyes fluttered shut. Slowly, but surely, her body transformed more into fire while the flames danced across their bodies, growing more intense by the second. Breaking the kiss, Volcana leaned down to nip at his neck, planting kisses and little love bites before going right back to making out. The fire that made up the demoness started to swirl around them, creating a small vortex of flames.

Erza and Lucy were backed into a corner as the Hell Vanguard and Prides closed in.

"This is it!" cried Lucy in fear, "We're gonna die!"

Erza said nothing as she put herself between the demons and her friend.

 _"On that, we can agree,"_ hissed the Vanguard as it raised its scythe, _"Prepare to die!"_

However, before it could swing down, the demon heard the roar of a fire, prompting it to turn around. Erza glanced behind it to see a swirling vortex of fire, and what appeared to be a figure in the center of the inferno.

"What is that?" asked Lucy, noticing the churning blaze.

Erza's eyes widened as a startling thought entered her brain. Nero had the ability to absorb magic and demonic energy with Devil Bringer. Was he taking the demon's power?

The Fairy Queen quickly got her answer as the conflagration suddenly expanded and shot out, sending flames everywhere. The Hell Prides braced themselves while the Vanguard remained unmoved even as the flames passed over. Erza shielded Lucy just as she saw the fire coming.

This continued for several moments. The released wall of fire from the vortex swept across the floor, ceiling, and walls of the cave. Finally, the fire died away, leaving a small cloud of smoke while everything else was covered in a layer of soot. However, Erza ignored it and scooped up Lucy and flew towards Nero. The Demon Hunter was mostly obscured by the smoke, his head was bowed while he appeared to by cradling something. When she got to his side, she shook his shoulder slightly.

"Nero! Are you alright?" asked Erza, concerned.

"Never better," answered Nero, after a second before standing up, "just..."

The Hunter trailed off as he a felt a weight in his arms. Looking down, his eyes widened while a smirk formed. Guess she did make good on her promise.

In his arms was a guitar. But not a normal, hell no; something from another world. The instrument was black, that much was certain, it was about 25 to 30 inches in length. It had jagged edges, one such side looked more like the blade of an ax while the head of the instrument looked similar to that of a spear. But despite the demonic look of the guitar, the simple appearance wasn't what drew the most attention, it was the fact that the strings were made of fire!

"Where did you get a guitar!?" demanded Lucy, not even understanding how or why Nero has an instrument, "and where's the devil!?"

In the midst of all this, the Vanguard glowered at the spawn of the darkslayer. Not only had he defeated his mistress, but had taken her as a devil arm. But all was not lost. There was still one thing to lose, the demon hunter's life.

 _"You've defeated my mistress,"_ hissed the Vanguard as it floated towards three, Hell Prides flanking the demon god.

Nero smirked as he adjusted his grip on the guitar, "Yeah, its what I do."

 _"No matter,"_ growled the monster, _"You will die by my blade!"_

"Is that right?" mocked Nero as he shifted the instrument into a ready position, the flames that made up the strings licked his skin, but he felt no pain, "A lot of demons said that in the past, and all of them wound back up in hell. Only difference is when I beat take you guys down, it'll be a lot more fun."

 _"DESTROY THEM!"_ Howled the Hell Vanguard as it raised its scythe and pointed at the three.

"Erza, get Lucy out of here," ordered Nero as he stepped towards the approaching demons. The redhead looked at Nero incredulously.

"Why?" she demanded.

"On second thought, stick around," joked Nero, as he glanced over his shoulder at her, "just means I'll have an audience."

Without any more words, Nero strummed the strings of the guitar and the instrument let out the first note of a song that would be remembered by a _lot_ of demons later on.

 _(Devil May Cry 5 - Devil Trigger - Little V)(Made changes, but I like his version regardless)_

As soon as the first not was made, the guitar sent out streams of fire. The streams shot right towards the Hell Prides, sending them flying back while the demons let out howls of pain as the demonic fire. Nero had learned to play the guitar back in Fortuna, back when he was ignoring his studies and didn't bother to go to a sermon. And it was paying off pretty well. But it wasn't just playing the guitar he learned to do.

 _"The darkest of night falls around my soul,_

 _And the hunter within loses control._

 _Gotta let it out, gotta let it out!_

 _Gotta let it out, gotta let it out!_

 _This demon inside has a hold of me,_

 _Clenching its power, drives me to break free._

 _Gotta let it out, gotta let it out!_

 _Gotta let it out, gotta let it out!_

 _Move fast baby, don't be slow,_

 _Step aside, reload, time to go;_

 _I can't seem to control_

 _All this rage that's inside me!_

 _Hold it fast, they've been dancing on this;_

 _Braided by fire on the abyss_

 _Red hot temper, I just can't resist;_

 _All this vengeance inside me!"_

To say that Erza and Lucy were shocked that Nero could play an instrument, much less sing would be an understatement. Just like it would be an understatement in saying that the Hell Prides were completely outclassed when fighting Nero now that he had a Devil Arm in his possession. An extremely powerful one at that. Flames shot throughout the cave while the Hunter stood on the elevated platform where he had been fighting Volcana, a wild grin on his face as he played the guitar. It was fitting, that Nevan's sister would also become a Devil Arm similar to a guitar. But thoughts like those had to wait; the performance must go on!

 _"All of these thoughts running through my head_

 _I'm on fire, face burning red_

 _Frustration is getting bigger!_

 _Bang, bang, bang;_

 _Pull my Devil Trigger!_

 _Embrace the darkness that's within me;_

 _No hiding in the shadows anymore!_

 _When this wickedness consumes me;_

 _Nothing can save you,_

 _And there's no way out!_

 _I'm a wildfire you won't tame;_

 _Not even my temper can put out the flame;_

 _There's no way to contain,_

 _This storm swelling inside me!_

 _I'm a bomb you can't defuse;_

 _I would just accept you're going to lose!_

 _Can't turn down, I refuse_

 _To hold back anymore!_

 _All of these voices inside of my head;_

 _Blinding my sight in a curtain of red!_

 _Frustration is getting bigger!_

 _Bang, bang, bang;_

 _Pull my Devil Trigger!_

 _When on I dance it's not over;_

 _Wave right through to get closer!_

 _Like a silver bullet piercing through;_

 _I throw myself into you!"_

At this point, Nero stopped as he bowed his head. Throughout the song, he had been getting into the music, bobbing his head with the beat while the flames from the guitar seared the demons around him. He was still in control as he didn't once hurt Lucy or Erza. However, he felt inclined to ramp things up a little. As he started to play a slower beat, he activated his Devil Trigger once more, however, when he does, there is always an azure energy that accompanies it. Not this time. Rather as he did, the energy had turned a fiery red while his arm glowed the same. The Specter started to form slowly, but it was also changed like the color of the power. Instead of an organic sheath on the left arm, both arms had a large spike attached to them. The asymmetrical horns on the phantoms shoulders had changed and were now the same while two new horns came up from the back and rose up, flanking the head.

Nero began getting really into the song. The Specter mimicking his movements until one part of the song picked up. The Specter suddenly stopped mimicking Nero as he walked to the edge of the platform, the ethereal being started swinging its hands, as if ushering on an invisible crowd. Nero kept going, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the Hell Vanguard growled in fury and tried rushing right towards Nero. This decision would be its downfall because flames started collecting at the head of the guitar while the Demon Hunter prepared for the final act.

 _"All of these voices inside of my head,_

 _Blinding my sight in a curtain of red!_

 _Frustration is getting bigger!_

 _Bang, bang, bang;_

 _Pull my Devil Trigger!"_

On that final note, Nero unleashed a massive stream of fire right towards the devil-god of death. The monster didn't stand much of a chance as it was instantly vaporized while flames continued to shot out striking the few remaining demons. Erza and Lucy watched in awe as Nero completely annihilated the last of the demons before strumming the guitar a few more times before ending his performance on one powerful note that sent a massive wave across the cave and vaporized the last of the demons.

Nero came to his knees as he held out his hands and guitar, the Specter doing the same before vanishing. A moment passed before Nero just laughed almost drunkenly as he fell back. Erza and Lucy came over to his sides worried that he overexerted himself but when they saw the wide grin they knew he was fine.

"I love this job," grinned Nero.

* * *

An hour later, the three exited the cave and were heading back to Fairy Tail. They decided to inform some Rune Knights that arrived on the scene when some citizens reported strange music coming from the cave. Nero made it clear to the Knights to be extremely careful because if a Demon holed itself in that cave, then a portal couldn't be that far.

The Rune Knights had also paid the group, much to their surprise, a grand total of seventy-five thousand jewels. Turns out that the demons had been here a lot longer and had attacked a few other villages before going after Nero, under the orders of Volcana. The Magic Council offered anyone who put an end to these devils would receive the aforementioned amount of jewels as payment. No one argued against and were now heading back to Magnolia.

The three were currently walking down a dirt road, one that would lead right towards Magnolia. Along the way, Lucy asked Nero about what happened to Volcana. So the demon hunter explained the situation.

"So you're basically her master now?" guessed the blonde celestial mage.

"Sort, but wouldn't really use the term 'master'," corrected Nero, having explained that when a Devil is bested by another Devil, the defeated would surrender its soul to the victor for what purpose they had in mind, "It's kinda like you with your spirits."

"So her soul manifested itself into a weapon once you defeated her," surmised Erza, "a devil arm, I believe you called it."

"Yeah, kinda like Yamato," explained Nero as he glanced down at Devil Bringer. He could feel Volcana's presence within his soul. Shortly after defeating the demons, Nero dismissed the Devil Arm, the magical weapon vanishing into Devil Bringer, which makes storage very easy. However, this brought up a concern of his. How much power would he get before too much was too much?

Suddenly, Nero's line of thought was interrupted when a car drove up and stopped by the trio. This was a shock to Nero since he didn't know that this world had cars. It looked like an old 1920s brown Model-T. The man in the driver's seat up front had a strange gauntlet-like coupling on his left wrist.

"You people are from Fairy Tail, aren't yah?" the man asked.

Erza nodded, "Yes, we are."

The man smiled, "I'm a big fan of your Guild. Would you all like a ride back to town? It's no trouble at all."

"Sure beats walking," quipped Nero as he got into the passenger compartment, quickly followed by Erza and Lucy, the redhead sitting right next to him.

"I agree. I'm tired and I can't walk anymore. Besides," she turned to the platinum blonde and grinned, "this gives us a better opportunity to discuss your little 'performance.'"

Nero rolled his eyes, knowing that he should've seen this coming.

"Yeah," agreed Lucy, "what kind of singing was that and since when could you play an instrument?"

"Right," sighed Nero, just as the car shifted into drive and accelerated forward down the old dirt road, "to answer your second question, remember when I said I wasn't that well liked in Fortuna?"

"Yeah," nodded Lucy.

"Well to pass the time, decided to learn to play to entertain myself and to answer your first question: it's just a style of music from my world," answered the demon hunter.

"And with your talent, you could apply it in combat as you did against the Hell Vanguard and Hell Prides," finished Erza.

"Yep," confirmed Nero as he looked at Erza, a little impressed, "you a mindreader or something?"

The redhead turned to the Demon Hunter, and smirked, "Call it woman's intuition."

On the way back, Lucy decided to ask another question, "Hey, Nero?" asked the blonde, "Do you know why Volcana was so interested in you?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "a while back, when Dante first started being a demon hunter, he ran into a demon lady like Volcana named Nevan. He beat her fairly and she surrendered her soul to him and became a devil arm like Volcana. But, turns out that Nevan had a sister who wanted to get back at him by going after me."

"But one thing still confuses me," continued Lucy, "Why did you do all that just to beat the demons?"

Nero smirked, "It's part of my charm; if you're gonna do something or save someone, why not do it with style. And style, I've got plenty of," he replied confidently, maybe a little arrogantly, but not so much so like Laxus.

Erza smiled. It seemed Nero was just as boisterous as Natsu, only he had a bigger brain than her hot-headed guildmate did.

Half an hour later, the three finally made it back to Magnolia and thanked the man who had given them the ride. Usually they would all head back home to get some needed rest, but Master Makarov was expecting them back at the Guild. However, what happens next is for another time.

 _ **To Be Continued...**_

* * *

 _ **A/N And done! Longest chapter of Devil Tail to date! Sorry, it took so long to update. But just to give a heads up, don't expect an update anytime soon. Gonna take a break but will return. But in all curiosity, what'd you guys think?**_

 _ **I feel a little bad about not adding more to the Devil Trigger fight, but didn't want to make the chapter too long and I couldn't really find a way to make it longer than I already have it.**_

 ** _Also, I hope those references to the first game and DC wasn't too bad. Also, if you're wondering about Volcana, she might make another appearance, or appear as a regular character if you want._**

 ** _But what'd you think of the devil arm? While I might not have showcased it in this chapter, Volcana (which is what I'm calling the Devil Arm) does possess minor geokinesis alongside pyrokinesis. I will include it in the Nero vs Erza chapter which is the chapter after the next._**

 ** _Also, if you guys dislike me for how I had Volcana get intimate with Nero, I did say at the beginning there was going to be a fluff! And I wrote in the chapter that Volcana wanted to 'get to know' Nero! But I will never be sorry for giving Nero what essentially is his theme song. (Also, seriously, go check out Little V's version of Devil Trigger if you haven't!) But I did take the time to make the corrections to the song, which some of you have pointed out to me and I thank you for that._**

 ** _Random question, what do you think Nero's title name should be? Like, Natsu is called Salamander, Erza is called Titania, Queen of the Fairies, hell, even his own dad is called The Darkslayer. So what do you think his title should be?_**

 ** _Backing up a little, massive thanks to "lolrus555" for helping out with the flashback. Couldn't have done it without you bud!_**

 ** _Okay, I'm done._**

 ** _Review, like, and follow!_**


	15. Chapter 15 Nero Vs Erza

_**And here we are, the next chapter. The Chapter of Nero taking on Erza Scarlet. Been coming for some time. I know in previous chapters, I mentioned creating a chapter similar to the anime series involving episode 2. However, with so many people waiting for the chapter, I figured I'd do it first and do the other chapter later. So with that in mind, the focus is now placed on this chapter.**_

 _ **I'll be posting a poll asking if you want Volcana to appear as a regular character. Speaking of polls, I got the poll results back and in my opinion, the outcome is heavily onesided.**_

 _ **Nero: 28**_

 _ **Erza: 2**_

 _ **Draw: 5**_

 _ **It goes without saying that Nero's the favored winner, and I believe that Nero will win, not just because of his durability and previous feats. But because of the reasoning provided by**_ ** _xNightShroudx._**

 ** _Speaking of whom, another shoutout to xNightShroudx who gave me a valid reason why Nero would win in a fight against Erza. Despite Erza having more versatility, Nero's unusual weapons are something she has never dealt with before. Red Queen's Exceed system gives the user the ability to hit very hard with excessive amounts of power. The weapon itself isn't made with magic, just mechanics and engineering. Nero has wielded this weapon with immense prowess and training and even if Erza switches to Flame Empress armor for example, then Nero can contain the oil within the blade since the blade is now considered flammable with oil in the Exceed system. Blue Rose is practically designed to counter armor, firing two shots at once, the second just a fraction slower than the first so that both bullets strike the same point twice._**

 ** _Not to mention Yamato which is sharp enough to slice through practically anything, including dimensions so that counters Erza's Adamantine Armor which is her strongest armor. Also, Nero's Devil Trigger increases his senses, reaction speed, strength, durability, as well as his techniques, giving Nero a higher damage and power output. Also, Nero has Volcana, a new Devil Arm. Plus, Nero's taken some pretty heavy poundings himself ranging from Berial, Bael, Echida, the Savior, and many other demons. And I will be taking into account their personal experiences as well as their stats from "Fandom Vs" Nero or Erza. Look for the link that starts with "vsbattles-.-wikia" and you should find the website I looked at._**

 ** _Anyway, I'll be giving a little cameo to the Thunder Legion, however, I have every intention of Nero roasting Laxus when Evergreen talks to Nero and tries to get him to join the Legion for a quest._**

 ** _And as per my promise that I have been forgetting sometimes. This story is inspired by Ultimate Fairy by Ultimate10. Kudos to that guy for giving me the confidence to write this story._**

 _ **Also: To (Guest), I appreciate the calling out. I am always worried that I am following far too close to the story that inspired this one. The fact that you called me out on it lets me know that I need to trust my own thoughts more. A problem I have is a lack of self-confidence or fear that making my own decisions s won't end well and people won't like what I have in mind. That being said, I'm truly sorry if I am following far too close to his story and basically reiterating what Ultimate10 wrote. That is not my intention, nor was it ever.**_

 _ **However, I do really want to go into depth about Nero's upper limits and show the rest of Fairy Tail that he is truly on a different level. So circumstances will be much different but a memory scene will come. I'm sorry but I figured that would be the best way to truly show Nero's abilities. Also, it would also serve to explain what happened to Kyrie and why she and Nero aren't together. Also, it would allow me to do some easter eggs or cameos from other media, mainly things from Monster Hunter, a few other things, basically iconic creatures that could make good demons. I'm sorry about that but the circumstances for entering his mind will be different.**_

 _ **Looking back at a little request I made about what title Nero should have, I actually came up with one. Since Nero used to be a Knight for the Order, I figured it would do to make a sort of nod to it. Which is why the title I came up for Nero was 'The Unholy Knight of Fairy Tail.' Nero was basically a punk growing up and since he is part demon, it seems fitting that his title would be this. An homage to Fortuna and his previous Knighthood.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**_

* * *

 _ **Devil Tail**_

 _ **Chapter 15: Nero Vs. Erza**_

 _"Thank you, Ms. Kyrie!"_

 _Nero smiled as Kyrie handed a bouquet of flowers to the little girl. Kyrie had requested that Nero was to go with her as she went to go pick up flowers for the city hospital. She planned to give a bouquet to each patient, hoping that the flowers would keep their spirits up, and encourage them to not give up on the hope of recovery. They were just about to head for the hospital when a little girl, one that Kyrie had watched over before, had approached them asking for a bouquet. Apparently, the hospital announced the arrival of the flowers, and the girl wanted to be the one to give her ailing mother the flowers personally._

 _With a story like that, Nero had to admit that even he would have given her a bouquet._

 _Kyrie smiled as the girl waved good-bye. She then turned towards Nero but was surprised by his amused expression, "What is it?" she asked shyly as she met his gaze._

 _Nero chuckled, "Nothin'. Just watching you be your usual, charitable self, is all," He then gave her a genuine smile, "You did good."_

 _Kyrie returned the smile. "I'd like to think so..."_

 _Grinning, Nero playfully shoved her. "Well, c'mon. Don't we have to go deliver these flowers?"_

 _The young girl giggled before pushing the cart onward towards the hospital, with Nero by her side._

* * *

 _ **Gray's House, Magnolia**_

Nero sat up suddenly in his bed as he felt a bit of a cold sweat on his forehead. His breathing was haggard, like the last dream he had. Back when he helped Natsu do a quest on Galuna Island. The hunter groaned as he rubbed his eyes, he didn't understand why he was having these nightmares or dreams.

Sighing to himself, he threw the sheets off his bed and started to get an earlier start to his day. He had been living with Gray for some time, at least until he could afford to buy his own place. And from the jobs he's taken, it shouldn't be long until he has enough to pay for a downpayment.

The guestroom that he had been living in was nothing special; just a desk, chair, bed, closet, and dresser.

As the hunter got dressed, he decided to bring Red Queen and Blue Rose along to do some early morning training. He couldn't sleep and training might clear his head a bit. Silently, Nero snuck out of Gray's house to see the sun just barely creeping over the trees. Taking a quick breath, the hunter started the first portion of his training with an early jog.

As the hunter left Gray's home, he failed to notice Devil Bringer pulsing faintly. Tiniest of sparks emanating from the limb as parts of it flickered orange.

* * *

 _ **Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Magnoila, Fiore**_

Despite the Guildhall still unfinished, it was still in good enough shape that some wizards, who weren't doing construction were taking breaks or relaxing at the recently built bar but things were far from calm there at the moment. The Devil's Hand Team entered the hall. However, Nero had been missing strangely.

Natsu burped out a torrent of fire, "Man, that was a good breakfast," He noted; a satisfied smile on his face.

"Aye sir," Happy replied, flying right by.

"I wonder why Nero couldn't join us though." Lucy pondered.

Gray shrugged, "I went to ask him this morning but he wasn't anywhere in my house."

"That's odd," Erza commented, "I wonder where he could be," Then, without glancing at Gray, the redhead ordered sternly, "Gray, put your clothes back on."

The ice wizard blinked before he looked at himself. True enough, he had stripped down to his boxers, "CRAP!" he panicked.

Natsu laughed hard at his rival, "Ha! What a loser!"

Gray glared back and got in the Dragon Slayer's face, "WHAT'D YOU SAY, PYRO!?"

"I SAID YOU'RE A LOSER, YOU ICY PRICK!" Natsu shouted back with equal rage, "YOU GONNA DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?!"

Suddenly, before a brawl of fire and ice could break out, Erza appeared by them and slammed their heads together hard. They promptly collapsed to the ground next to each other while the red bumps on their foreheads throbbed in pain.

"No!" Erza yelled, "You've already caused enough damage to the Guild Hall. There will be NO fighting! Am I clear?"

Natsu and Gray both groaned before they replied, "Yes ma'am."

"Erza's super serious today," Lucy commented.

"That's Erza for yah," Happy replied.

Soon, the team was gathered in the bar area at a table. While other wizards were busy chatting amongst themselves, the Devil's Hand Team were a little curious about some of the events that happened when Lucy was captured by the Devil.

"What happened to that Devil?" Natsu asked Lucy as he, Gray, Happy, and Erza sat at a table. The Dragon Slayer wasn't too happy that he couldn't join in the fight with Nero and Erza against the Devil, Hell Pride, and Hell Vanguard.

"Apparently, when a Devil is defeated by a more powerful demon, they surrender their soul to the one that defeated it," explained Erza as she ate her strawberry cake, "So when Nero defeated the Devil, she surrendered her soul to him."

"So he basically owns her now?" asked Gray, not entirely certain how to feel about the situation and the concept of basically owning a being.

"He said it's more like me when I form contracts with spirits," interjected Lucy, "it's a mutual agreement, or so he's said."

"Still, a flaming guitar," thought Natsu aloud as a line of drool came out of his mouth, thinking about all the fire. He could eat.

"Natsu, you're drooling again," pointed out Happy.

Before anything else could be said, the doors to the guild hall opened, prompting everyone to turn to the entrance. Entering was Nero who had his hands in his pockets.

"Morning all," greeted Fairy Tail's demon hunter as he strolled into the hall.

"'Bout time you showed up!" barked Natsu as a wide grin formed on his face while his fist engulfed in flames. The Dragon Slayer shot to his feet as he as soon as he saw Nero, "I want you to fight me!"

"Pretty sure we went over this last week," drawled the platinum blonde as he rolled his eyes. Ever since he joined, Natsu has basically challenged Nero at any given moment, despite the hunter telling 'no' a dozen times over, "besides, can't really do that right now."

"Whatever it is, it can wait; because here I come!" Natsu leaped up into the air with an evil smile and fire in both his hands; the hunter rolled his eyes as he held up Devil Bringer, Spectral Bringer appearing as well.

The ethereal hand was contorted in a way that looked like he was about to flick some dust away. And in this case, the dust was Natsu. The Dragon Slayer had nowhere to go as Nero literally flicked him away with enough force to send him flying across the guild hall where the pink haired mage crashed into a wall, thankfully not breaking through.

Everyone looked on in shock and surprise. Mainly because of how easily Nero took down Natsu. However, the Dragon Slayer wasn't down as he was right back on his feet and charged towards Nero.

Natsu leaped at him with his fist cocked back, **"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"**

However, right before his fist collided with the hunter, Nero vanished and appeared right behind him, Devil Bringer holding onto his ankle. Before the mage could react, the part demon flipped him around in the air before setting him down and smashed his head into Natsu's hard enough that the Dragon Slayer stumbled before falling back with stars in his eyes. Everyone looked on in shock and surprise.

"WHOA!" Happy exclaimed, "Nero just beat Natsu by headbutt!"

"Natsu, running in and trying to punch everything to a pulp isn't a good strategy or thought process," reprimanded the hunter as he cracked his neck.

Some of the other Fairy Tail wizards had also witnessed the scene. Wakaba and Macao, who were sitting at a table enjoying their beer, stared in awe and disbelief.

"Whoa," Wakaba gapped, "did you see that?"

"Yeah," nodded Macao, just as shocked as his friend, "he took him down like he was nothing."

Erza looked on with wide eyes. She too along with the other mages who witnessed the spectacle was dumbfounded. Another part of her was impressed that Nero had defeated Natsu with hardly any effort but was smart enough to not break anything.

"Maybe next time, think of a strategy before you charge in fists blazing," quipped Nero as he stepped over Natsu to the table.

"He certainly does things with style," Cana commented from her barstool.

"No kidding," Gray agreed.

"Still can't believe you fight demons for a living," Elfman muttered.

Nero glanced over at the white-haired giant, a toothy grin forming, "A smart guy once said, 'there is no greater danger then underestimating your opponents.' Which is why I trash talk Devils. Get them mad, get under their skin, and when they least expect it. I go in for the kill. Besides, you shouldn't judge some's strength by their size, but the size of their strength."

Erza smiled in agreement and admiration. Those were wise words indeed.

Elfman seemed to agree with Nero's logic, and remarked, "HA! Now that's manly!"

He slapped the hunter across the shoulder, Nero stumbling slightly as he almost fell forward. Looking back, he glared at Elfman, who sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. After a second, he shook his head while rolling his eyes before he jabbed a chair from another table and spun it around to sit in.

"It is good to see you, Nero," greeted Erza

"Same," he replied.

"Where were you, Nero?" asked Lucy, remembering that Nero had vanished and was missing from their breakfast, "You missed breakfast with us."

"And you sneaked out of my house without a word this morning too," Gray added.

"Right...," said Nero sheepishly scratching the back of his head, "Woke up kinda early and couldn't find myself able to get back to sleep. Decided to go for a run and train a bit. Guess I lost track of time."

"No wonder you beat Volcana so easily," said Lucy, understanding how the hunter defeated the demon in record time.

"Who's Volcana?" asked Elfman, crossing his arms across his chest. He and Mira approached the table, while Cana, who was drinking a mug of beer, turned her gaze to the group.

"Remember when those demons attacked?" brought up Nero as he turned to face the giant and his sister, both of which nodded, "Well, Volcana is the Devil who the Hell Vanguard was referring to."

"His 'Mistress'?" Mira guessed, to which the hunter nodded.

"Turns out, the reason she attacked was to get revenge on Dante, my uncle, for when he defeated her sister, Nevan," he elaborated, "knowing she wasn't powerful enough to beat him, she decided to go after me as a way to hurt him since I'm his only biological family."

"Yeah, Lucy talked about that," interjected Happy, "She said that the devil surrendered her soul to you."

"Mm-hm," hummed Nero, "it's part of Devil tradition or culture; whenever a devil is defeated, they will surrender their soul to the devil who defeated them. Becoming a Devil Arm."

"What's that?" asked Gray.

"This," was all Nero said as he held out Devil Bringer. Orange flames swirled around the demonic appendage for a second, the blue glow was replaced with an orange as the flames started to form into a shape in the hunter's hands. The flames grew brighter, forcing some of the closest mages to shield their eyes until the flames faded.

When they did, the mages looked back and saw the Devil Arm Volcana.

"That's the Devil Arm?!" asked Happy in total awe, "It looks awesome!"

"Now that's manly!" agreed Elfman.

"So what does it do?" asked Gray.

Instead of answering, Nero just smirked and flipped the guitar around into a ready position. With his hands in position, he strummed the instrument, creating several small streams of fire that shot up into the air and swirled around. Deciding to show off a little, the hunter played the guitar riff used in 'Money For Nothing' by the Dire Straits. The wizards listened in awe as Nero played the riff, the flames vanishing once he finished.

"THAT IS AWESOME!" shouted Natsu as he jumped into the fray.

"Aw man," Gray groaned, annoyed, "I was hoping he'd stay down there all day."

Natsu turned his attention to Nero, and pointed right at the demon hunter, "I have to try those flames!"

"Forget it, Natsu," stated Nero as he took the guitar away and held it in Devil Bringer, "This is demonic fire. Last thing I need is for you to kill yourself."

"C'MON!" shouted the Dragon Slayer, a vein throbbing on his forehead.

However, before the two could get into an argument, the guitar started sparking as bolts of energy jumped from Devil Bringer into the instrument. The Demon Hunter looked down at the instrument in confusion, while the wizards all looked down at it as well.

"What the hell?" demanded Nero as he looked at the instrument.

All of a sudden, the guitar erupted into flames, unlike previous times, when he was unaffected by the flames, Nero let out a sharp cry of pain. The entire instrument glowed brightly until it was consumed in flames. The fire burned him.

"NERO!" shouted his team as the hunter held his hand.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Nero as he looked at the burning guitar as the flames rose into a column. As the flames grew, they suddenly reached a size before forming into a shape.

"What the heck is it doing?" demanded Gray, looking at the flames.

However, as this was happening, Nero narrowed his eyes as he saw a figure forming.

"No-fucking-way," he growled as his left hand drifted to Blue Rose.

Soon, the flames began to fade and reveal a very familiar figure. Lucy's breath froze as her eyes went wide. Erza narrowed her eyes as she summoned two swords while Mira looked in shock. Gray, Natsu, and Elfman are growled as they got ready for a fight.

"Well, Natsu...," said Volcana in a sassy tone as the flames revealed her form and her hair wafted free, "If you wanted a taste of me, I think it's my decision."

"What the hell is going on?" demanded Nero as his left hand rested on his revolver, "How the fuck are you here, Volcana?"

"Watch the language, Nero," said the fire demon teasingly as she sat down on the table and swung her legs over so that her position gave a suggestive glance, "there are some children present."

"Who the heck are you?!" shouted Natsu.

"Think about it, flame boy," said Volcana as she cast a glance at him, "I used to be a Devil Arm, and where did Nero get that?"

It took Natsu a good minute to think about what she was talking about. However the pieces did finally click into place and his angered expression intensified, "YOU'RE THE DEMON THAT KIDNAPPED LUCY!"

"Bingo," chuckled the demoness, "but, if we're being real, I didn't do the kidnapping personally. Besides, I wasn't actually interested in hurting her."

Erza gritted her teeth and shot Volcana a dangerous look, "I don't mind the fact that no harm came to her, but you still abducted her!"

Volcana merely scoffed, "You got her back didn't you though?"

Nero, meanwhile, was completely silent as he stared at the fiery, redhead demoness, eyes narrowed as he pulled the hammer back. He could definitely relate to his friend's emotions towards Volcana; considering what she did, however, he was still curious about how she was here.

"What's going on here?" an elderly voice asked.

The Guild turned to see Master Makarov standing at the semi-finished entrance of the building. He glanced around the area to see that no damage had been done (thank goodness) and several mages standing around the table where a redhead woman sat, a devilish grin on her face.

"Hmm...," hummed the old master, looking at the situation, before he quipped, "Seems like we have an uninvited guest."

"Charmed," said Volcana as she got off the table to stand beside Nero, the hunter tensing, but didn't draw his weapon.

"What happened here?" asked Makarov evenly as his expression hardened.

"I wanna know that too," stated Nero as he turned to look at the devil, "how the hell are you here, Volcana?"

"Well, since you asked, a good place to start is with a certain charm one of you got the day the Hell Vanguard attacked with its Hell Prides," began Volcana, glancing at Levy, "pretty sure you were the one to get the charm, hun."

Before anyone could question her, a look of realization washed over her face. Suddenly, the lithe girl dashed toward the cellar door. A minute later, she came back with the same golden trident trinket. It was the one she, Droy, and Jet received when they finished their job the same day.

"When we finished our mission, we receive this along with our reward. I thought it was just a trinket, but…"

"That is no trinket," Makarov interrupted, extending his hand to hold it. Levy placed the object in his hand, allowing him to scrutinize it keenly, "This is it alright. The runes engraved on here are from an ancient language, they stand for words along the lines of 'growth' or 'increase' or 'empowerment."

"What? What do you mean?" Natsu asked, confused, "What is this thing, and why does it involve her?"

"The Empowerment Charm is true to its name. It increases the magical abilities of any wizard who wields it tenfold," He answered.

The group's eyes widened exponentially while Nero cocked an eyebrow. If a charm like that was so powerful that it could increase a mage's magic ten times, then it wouldn't come as any surprise that some wizards would go after it.

"However, I cannot sense any magic in it," continued Makarov, confused as he turned the charm over to inspect it further.

"How is that possible?" asked Lucy, before glancing at Volcana in a weary manner, "And what does it have to do with her?"

"I think I know," said Nero, entering the conversation, "when Erza was taking it to the cellar, I felt a small shock jump into my arm."

To add emphasis, he raised Devil Bringer, the appendage letting out small sparks of energy.

"Your demonic manifestation is capable of absorbing magic and demonic energy," supplied Volcana as she leaned into Nero, the hunter grimacing slightly, "Meaning, the power of the charm was absorbed by your arm."

"So it's a paperweight now?" deadpanned Gray.

"It would appear so," nodded Makarov as he set the charm down on a table.

"But how are you here?" demanded Nero as he looked her in the eyes.

"Well, the charm gave you the ability to manifest the souls, or the Devils themselves not dissimilar to how your friend Lucy summons spirits to fight alongside you," stated the demon lady with a smile, "When you summoned the Devil Arm, you indirectly returned me to my original form to fight alongside you."

"So you're still a part of Nero?" asked Gray, raising an eyebrow.

"More like a permanent roommate," elaborated Volcana.

"If that's the case," stated Nero, clenching Devil Bringer as he raised it, "guess I better bring you back."

"Whatever you say, master," said Volcana nonchalantly as her body started to turn into flames again, but an evil grin formed as an idea entered her mind, "but just one thing before I go."

"Wha-?!" he started, but the hunter's eyes went wide as saucers as his face blushed bright red as he was on the receiving end of a lustful kiss, courtesy of Volcana when she jumped him. The demon wrapped her arms around his neck and crushed her lips against his. The sudden action caused the hunter to fall over, taking the demon lady with him while everyone in the bar area to look on in shock. A few girls blushed while wizards like Macao, Jet, and Droy drooled and wished they were in Nero's position.

"Never-said-how!" teased Volcana between her kisses before she vanished into flames, the fire swirling around Nero's body before flowing into Devil Bringer.

"Well, this is certainly an interesting development," said Makarov as he hung his head low, "However, I must say, I'm a little envious of you, Nero."

"What?!" demanded Nero as he sat up, whipping his mouth off with his sleeve, "How? What could you possibly be jealous?"

"Because," The dwarf-sized mage laughed giddily, "If all demon ladies are like that, SIGN ME UP AND BRING ON THE LADIES!"

"MASTER!" Mirajane reprimanded.

"Trust me, the last thing you want is to run into a devil lady," stated Nero, while his team helped him up, "Depending on the kind of demon, they'll see you as a toy they can play with until they break it or lose interest in. Or if they're a Succubus, will drain your life force."

"And you know this...," trailed off Gray, giving Nero a suggestive look.

"I know this because I read it in a book," stated the hunter as he brushed his coat off of dust, "And one major lesson throughout that book never take a demon at face value."

"Agreed," nodded Erza as she looked Nero with admiration before she approached him to stand by his side as the hunter finished fixing his coat, "a foe can posses hidden abilities that can be hidden. It is best to keep one's guard up in situations like that."

"A good habit is to gauge how dangerous a target is," shrugged Nero as he cast a glance at Titania, "I'd be lying if I said a demon never caught me by surprise. Kinda like when Natsu did that break dance fire when we fought the first day I was here. Took me by surprise, but just had to reevaluate how to fight him."

Erza allowed a smile to cross her lips, _'I like it when a man is modest. However, I believe he is more powerful than he is letting on.'_

"Then perhaps you'd like a greater challenge than Natsu," she offered.

"That means what I think it does?" Drawled Nero as he folded his arms and turned to face her.

Erza smirked. Hearing how Nero defeated Natsu so effortlessly was intriguing; however, it left the redhead wondering how powerful he truly really was. The hunter claimed to fight monster more ferocious than anything faced by the Guild. Which is why she determined that there was only one way to find out how to truly measure Nero's strength.

Suddenly, Erza summoned a silver magical sword into existence, and with quick reflexes, she pointed the tip of her blade at Nero's throat. The hunter was just as quick, drawing Blue Rose and aimed the revolver right at her forehead. The two remained frozen as they stared the other down.

"Is this about me shooting you on Galuna Island? Me defying your orders and calling Makarov a midget? Or is it something else?" Quipped Nero in a lighthearted manner, giving the redhead a sly grin.

The Fairy Queen's expression turned serious as she honed her brown eyes on him. "Nero Sparda," announced Erza, "I challenge you to a one-on-one battle."

All the present Fairy Tail wizards gasped in shock and began talking to each other. Nero meanwhile raised an eyebrow as he offset his aim slightly.

"Whoa," Wakaba remarked, "Erza never challenges anyone; it's usually the other way around."

"More specifically Natsu," Macao mentioned.

"I can't believe it!" Lucy gaped, "Did Erza really just challenge Nero?"

"Aye," Happy said, "Erza doesn't kid around when it comes to a fight."

"Two of the most powerful people in Fairy Tail duking it out," Gray paled a little, "This might get messy."

Nero held his look at the redhead for a moment before he chuckled and removed Blue Rose from her personal space, "You want to fight me? Not that I don't appreciate a good challenge, I gotta know, what brought this on. If this is about Volcana or something else-."

"No," Erza interrupted, "It's nothing personal at all. I just want to gauge how powerful you really are, and there's only one way to test that."

"C'mon Nero!" Elfman routed, "If you're a real man than you'll accept the challenge!"

Soon, more Fairy Tail wizards began to gather from the construction site and cheered for him to accept the challenge. Nero looked between all the mages before returning his gaze back to Erza, who still had her blade pointed at his throat.

"How about it, Sparda? Will you accept? Or are you scared?" Erza smiled teasingly.

"Oh, you're gonna do me that now, huh?" Smirked Nero as he folded his arms and gave her a challenging grin. Though he knew she was teasing him, there was no way he was going to let her get away with that. If this mage in armor wanted to fight him, then he would oblige her. Besides, with everyone behind him rooting for him to accept, how could he disappoint them?

"Alright, Erza, I'll take you on. But just a fair warning. I hope you'll be a gracious loser when I beat you," he returned her teasing with a taunt of his own, earning a grin.

Erza pulled her sword away from his throat, a smile gracing her lips, "Excellent. We'll fight first thing in the morning."

Immediately, everyone broke out into applause. They had all been hard at work for the past couple weeks repairing the Guild Hall. Now, they had something entertaining to break the monotony. Everyone was excited; first thing tomorrow morning, they would witness the fight between the Queen of the Fairies and the Demon Hunter of Magnolia.

* * *

 ** _Gray's Home, Magnolia, Fiore, Nine Hours Later..._**

"I can't believe you accepted!" stated Gray in shock as he and Nero returned to his home.

Spending the day at the Hall, the main conversation being about who would emerge victorious in the duel between Nero, the Demon Slayer, and Erza, The Fairy Queen of Fairy Tail Guild. It was really interesting to find out and had actually been heard through the town as some villagers were really curious to hear from the Hunter if he thought he was going to win. Safe to say, he kept his usual laid demeanor and told anyone who asked 'well there's only one way to find out.'

"Erza did challenge me," shrugged Nero as he rested Red Queen against a wall in his temporary bedroom while he slung his coat and holster with Blue Rose still in it onto the chair in the room and sat down in it before kicking back and leaning his boots on the table as he looked at Gray who was standing in the doorway, "Plus, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious to find out what makes her so feared."

"But seriously, you accepted a challenge from _Erza_ ," stated the ice mage as he looked at the hunter, almost as stunned as when he heard him take her up on the offer, "She _never_ challenges anyone."

"Guess that makes me special," snorted Nero in amusement, folding his arms.

"I don't know if you're just arrogant, confident, or just stupid," sighed Gray as he shook his head. The platinum blond only

"Been called all of the above before," he grunted as he kicked his boots off, "Anyway, see you in the morning."

"Right," nodded Gray as he left Nero to get ready for bed.

The hunter removed his sleeveless hoody, belt, socks, and jeans, wearing only his muscle shirt and boxers. This exposed his right arm almost completely. True to Devil Bringer, his entire right arm had a similar reptilian appearance, small cracks shined an azure glow but subtly changed from demon to human as it reached his shoulder.

The son of the Darkslayer rolled his right arm to loosen his shoulder as he sat down on the bed and gripped Devil Bringer by the wrist. He looked down at the demonic appendage, recounting what had happened today. Essentially, he now had a permanent roommate, and he wasn't too certain what to think about that. If he was being honest, he wasn't that excited or interested that Volcana could take on her previous form, but he would admit, it was handy if he was in a tight spot.

"Thinking about your new arrangement?" asked a familiar voice.

The hunter's head snapped up to see the redhead demon sitting in the desk chair. Her legs were crossed one over the others as she leaned on her left elbow and rested her chin in her hand. Her right hand rested in her lap as she gave him a small smile. It wasn't like previous smiles where it was lustful and held an underlying tone. This one seemed... genuine.

"Don't recall summoning you," stated Nero sharply as he narrowed his eyes and stood up.

"That's because you didn't," answered Volcana as she adjusted herself to sit back in the chair, folding her hands in her lap, "but it doesn't mean I can't speak to you."

"Great," he drawled, "I've got a voice in my head."

"If you're worried about me trying to seduce you, don't," assured the demoness, her smile falling a bit, "You're far too intelligent and strong to fall for that."

This caused Nero to raise an eyebrow in curiosity. What was she getting at?

"So why are you here?" was the question from the teen as he sat back down, his attention fixed on her.

"Since you and I are bound, I had a look in your memories," she elaborated, standing up to sit next to him. This had Nero narrowing his eyes into deadly slits, "What happened wasn't your fault."

"Don't," stated Nero sharply, "just let me go to sleep. Got a big duel tomorrow."

Volcana sighed as she closed her eyes, "Just a little advice," stated the demon lady as she stood up and her body began to fade, "If you want to change things up, just give me a little twist and I'll change things up a little."

With that, the phantom of the demoness vanished, leaving Nero to let out a long breath through his nose as he rolled onto his side. The hunter felt sleep take him as his eyes began to close, but what she said did catch his attention.

 _'_ _If you want to change things up, just give me a little twist and I'll change things up a little,'_ her words echoed in his head. What did she mean?

Guess he'll just have to figure it out later.

* * *

 _ **Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Magnolia, Fiore**_

 _*12 hours later...*_

The next day, around seven-o-clock, all of Fairy Tail was gathered at Erza's personal training area. Everyone was geared up and greatly excited for the fight about to take place. Many had a beer or some sort of drink in hand, a few chatted amongst themselves about nothing, and others... well, many were placing bets on who would emerge victoriously. Cana, true to her personality, was taking bets from anyone with money.

The reason they moved out here was due to a request made by the mayor of Magnolia. Turns out, he had also heard about the impending brawl between the Demon Hunter and Fairy Queen. So he sent one of his workers to go tell them they couldn't fight in Magnolia. It wasn't really a problem for either Nero or Erza who both agreed to have the match be held at her personal training grounds.

About half an hour journey, perhaps forty-five minutes, every wizard in Fairy Tail had gathered at Erza's personal training grounds as the redhead had mentioned. More than a few wizards were displeased that they had to head several miles outside Magnolia for the fight; the gripping mainly about the heavy beer kegs. However, the rational wizards such as Makarov, Lucy, Gray, and Mirajane understood why the fight would need to be held somewhere secluded. Others, like Natsu, were a different story.

Erza's training ground was a large open area of grass and dirt in the middle of the lush East Forest. The long grasses had been cut short, no doubt from Erza and her continuous training. The wizards of Fairy Tail were gathered around the southern rim of the area, giving the two plenty of room to work with.

"Ugh!" Natsu ignited flames around his body in anticipation, "C'mon, let's get this fight started already!"

From across the crowd, Cana was sitting on a wooden crate. A barrel of beer was by her side while she gathered bets from other members in the Guild. Nearly everyone was betting on Erza to win. Natsu and Gray were among that group; though they knew Nero was certainly no pushover. But the duo still had doubts the Demon Hunter could best Erza. After all, this was the girl that had tormented them and haunted their nightmares ever since they were kids.

Master Makarov, Cana, and Happy were part of the small group that betted on Ben.

"Keep your shorts on!" Cana shouted at Natsu, "I still got people placing their bets."

Macao and Wakaba walked up to the brunette alcoholic to place their bets. Macao wagered three hundred jewels for Nero to win without using Volcana, as Wakaba placed a bet of two hundred jewels that Erza would win by only having to re-quip twice.

"Man, it's no wonder I get rich off you, Wakaba," Macao said smugly, "Erza can't win. All Nero has to do is use his Devil Trigger and it'll all be over."

"Actually, Nero said that he'll only use it if it's absolutely necessary," interjected Mirajane as she walked over to them, having heard Macao's comment. This was true, as right before they left the guild, Nero laid some ground rules, one such being that he would use his Trigger as a last resort.

Macao seemed to have forgotten. His confident demeanor seemed to deflate from that realization. Wakaba grinned at him, taking another puff from his pipe, "Which means Erza's gonna wipe the floor with him."

Macao glared back at the smoking wizard, and countered, "Don't count on it, pal! Remember he still's part demon, which means he's got a pretty high resistance to magic."

Meanwhile, Natsu, Gray, and Lucy were standing together. The former two waited in anticipation for the fight. Lucy, however, wasn't as thrilled.

"I don't know if this is such a good idea," Lucy said nervously.

Gray cocked a brow as he looked at her, confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what if Nero and Erza hate each other after this? What if this breaks up our team?" the blonde mage pointed out.

Natsu laughed and dismissed her fears, "Why are you getting so worked up, Luce? It's just a fight. They're not gonna hate each other."

"Yeah," Elfman approached and stood behind them, standing tall. He folded his arms over his massive chest, a serious expression on his face, "Besides, they have to do this to prove their manhood."

Lucy sweatdropped, "Erza's not a man, Elfman."

"Although," Gray implied, "you gotta admit that she is manly."

Happy landed on the ground and faced the group, more specifically, Lucy, "So Lucy, who'd you bet on?"

"I didn't bet on anyone! I don't want either of them to lose!" the Celestial mage cried.

"Geez," Natsu muttered, "you're no fun. Wouldn't hurt to lighten up and live a little."

Not far from them, or rather fifty to sixty-five yards from the gathered Mages of Fairy Tail, Nero and Erza were facing each other. Both of them were standing about a few yards away from each other. Both wore a confident grin, Nero loading Blue Rose, one round at a time before snapping the cylinder shut and spun the gun on his finger.

"There's no shame in calling it quits, now, 'Za," taunted the Demon Hunter as he holstered the powerful revolver, "And for the record, don't think for a second I'll take it easy on you just because you're a girls; especially when you're the strongest woman in Fairy Tail."

Erza smirked, "I would expect nothing less from you. And I must warn _you,_ Nero, I won't be going easy on you either."

"Just the way I like it," grinned Nero, as he rolled up his sleeve to reveal Devil Bringer.

"All bets are in!" Cana shouted.

Once Master Makarov heard Cana's announcement, he took a few steps in front of the crowd and raised his hand, "Begin!"

Nero's hand flew towards Red Queen and whipped out the sword. He performed a little flourish and planted the tip into the ground. He grinned savagely as he revved the Exceed system. Flames shot out of the vents as the blade glowed a deep red.

The fact that his sword had an engine inside of it continued to intrigue and slightly awe a few people. It was useful but also very unusual, and in the opinion of Natsu, just made it all the cooler.

"A sword that has a motor installed that produces fire, very interesting," commented Erza as she truly had the option to admire the sword, "But I have just the armor for such an occasion."

Suddenly, her body was covered in golden-white light as her Heart Kreuz outfit disappeared. When the light faded, she was clad in an armor that was primarily dark red but also sported orange and black parts, with the first ones being shaped like flames and the second resembling the limbs of a Dragon. Her bright scarlet hair was tied into a pair of high, long pigtails. In her right hand was a long red, flaming sword.

"Flame Empress Armor, good choice," commented Macao, recognizing the armor Erza wore.

"That means Nero's fire attacks will only be half as effective," added Happy.

Nero glanced at the cat for a second, a toothy grin forming as he heard the statement, "Only does half the damage, right?" he quipped as he flipped Red Queen around to rest the sword on his left shoulder, "Well, that just makes things interesting."

"Let us begin," said Erza as she suddenly dashed towards the demon hunter. Nero didn't look at all worried, in fact, he had a completely neutral stance.

Once she was closer, The Fairy Queen unleashed a powerful wave of fire right at towards the teen. Nero remained where he was until the very last second where dashed so fast his body was a blur as the flames struck the ground where he previously stood.

To everyone's surprise, he appeared right behind Erza, still holding a neutral stance as now let Red Queen rest on the ground. The same confident grin on his face.

"My turn," was all he said before he lunged at the redhead, his sword drawn back. The S-Class Mage raised her sword to block his attack, but the strength of his strike sent her sliding back a few feet.

"Nero is much stronger than I thought!" said Lucy, completely stunned.

"Gotta admit, I didn't expect that either," added Gray, equally surprised.

Not one to take this lying down, Erza retaliated. She leaped at Nero, swinging her sword, the hunter dodging with ease before ducked under one swing and slammed his knee into her stomach. And jumped back as the wizard attempted to counter by bringing down a torrent of flames.

Nero let out a little chuckle as he stood his ground. Erza, meanwhile, saw that close-quarter wasn't gonna cut it at the moment, so she crouched low and leaped into the air. While in the air, she reared back her sword and unleashed a powerful fire wave at her opponent.

Nero dodged this at the last second by leaping into the air, right towards Erza with his sword raised. The warriors' respective weapons collided in a shower of sparks as they clashed. The continued clashing as they descended back to the ground. It was with the last strike did they force themselves away from each other.

Nero and Erza landed four yards away from each other. The two both crouched low before leaping at each other. The Hunter revved Red Queen to the max, the blade completely coating in flames while Erza gathered fire on her sword. When the two collided, a shockwave was created while an inferno erupted and engulfed them both.

The Fairy Tail wizards were transfixed on the scene, watching anxiously. When the smoke finally cleared, Nero and Erza could be seen standing in a somewhat small crater. Smoke drifted off both of them as they stood a few feet away from each other. A small haze of smoke billowed around the rim and cracks in the earth.

The wizards could see that Erza had a few minor dark marks on her torso and dragon-like gauntlets, other than that she was relatively unharmed. The same could be said for Nero, having only a few marks, a small burn on his cheek but was rapidly healing.

"Wow! After an explosion like that, they're unharmed?" Lucy gaped.

A somewhat feral grin was on his face as Nero readied himself. He raised Devil Bringer which began glowing azure.

"I think we've set the bar," was all the Hunter said, "but let's see what else we've got!"

He threw the demonic hand forward, Spectral Bringer appearing and sped towards Erza. The mage dodged the ethereal appendage by rolling to the side before she charged at the hunter. Nero sprinted towards her where they slammed their swords against each other. The human-demon hacked and slashed at her, but with a few swipes of her sword, she easily parried his attacks once more. Erza leaped in the air and gathered flames on her blade. When she reared her weapon to its zenith, she let out a fearsome cry as she discharged a wave of fire at Nero.

The hunter pulled Devil Bringer back, Spectral Bringer appearing as he sent the fist right at the wave. The fire dispelled instantly as the apparition plowed through it and caught her leg. Yanking himself into the air right at her, the hunter swung Red Queen up, throttling the Exceed to the max as the blade slashed down. Flames erupted out as his attack collided with her chest.

Erza was sent to the ground where she smashed into the dirt, creating a large cloud of dirt. Nero landed a few feet from the billowing aftermath, studying it carefully for any movement. Without warning, a red blur leaped out from the smoke and struck the hunter right in the chest. He tumbled across the ground but managed to right himself by rolling across his shoulder into a crouch. He grunted as he blocked a slash from Erza.

The ground cracked under the impact as he steadied himself with one knee. Gritting his teeth, he got back to two feet and pressed Erza back, the two trying to overpower the other. The Fairy Tail wizards all focused on the two as they tried to overpower the other. It wasn't until Nero suddenly pushed their swords to the side and lunged forward to slam his head into her's, causing Erza to stumble back.

She shook her head to clear some dizziness before she sprinted towards the hunter and slammed both her heels into his chest, knocking him down. Nero grunted as he used Devil Bringer to block Erza's next attack and shove her back. Spinning around, he throttled the Exceed on Red Queen and performed a spinning slash that sent Erza sliding across the ground for a few meters until she came to a stop.

Nero then flipped to his feet and chuckled as dusted his coat off, and to Erza's and everyone else's shock, uttered the single phrase, "That all you got, 'Za?"

"I don't understand," Erza said, not able to fathom how he wasn't injured, "How could you possibly not have the slightest injury after that attack?"

"I'm a demon hunter, Erza," stated Nero with a smirk as he rested Red Queen on his shoulder, "It's my job to take hits from monsters that make Deliora look like a lightweight. It's gonna take a lot more than a few hits and some fire to bring me down."

Erza narrowed her eyes at the demon hunter, "I see."

He then sheathed Red Queen and drew Blue Rose, "Glad you do, now let's see how fast your reflexes are."

With that, he fired at her.

Erza crouched low and jumped up, letting the bullet whiz by. The platinum blond fired after her, the twin shots forcing the Fairy Queen to use her flaming sword to deflect the bullets. Landing back down in the ground, she rolled to avoid more shots as Nero fired rapidly at her. Erza cried out as she unleashed a powerful wave of fire at him. Nero dove to the side and came to a rest on one knee as he brought Devil Bringer to the hammer of Blue Rose to rapidly cock the revolver.

Erza's eyes widened as she backflipped as three shots were fired at her, each one aimed for her head. She missed one step slightly and almost lost her footing as she steadied herself. She had no idea that he was such an accomplished marksman. She was so lost in her musings that she was almost struck by Nero's sword when he holstered Blue Rose and dashed towards her with Red Queen drawn; however, at the last moment she dove to the side and rolled to her feet to dodge his horizontal slash. Nero's sword distorted the air as heat emanated from the exhaust.

When Erza regained her stance, she focused on Nero as they stood still, ready to engage in combat at the drop of hat.

The Fairy Tail mages looked on in excitement. So far, the fight was turning out to be good.

"Whoa, this fight is awesome!" Natsu said; a bright grin on his face.

However, a certain ice wizard seemed to be less amused by the battle.

Gray folded his arms over his chest and snorted, "They're at a stalemate. Neither one can really hurt the other."

Makarov, who was sitting on a beer barrel not too far away, turned to Gray, "Wait for it, Gray. Those two are just getting warmed up…literally."

Erza made the first move as she leaped straight for Nero at an incredible speed, her sword drawn back. The Hunter tensed as he prepared for her attack. He swung Devil Bringer up and caught the blade with one hand. This caught Erza off guard as she wasn't able to prepare for when Nero spun around and threw her across the arena. The Fairy Queen was able to land on her feet but doing so left her open to Spectral Bringer that shot towards her.

The ethereal appendage grabbed her by the face and the hunter was launched right towards her. Spectral Bringer vanished as he slammed the demonic hand right into her stomach. The force of the punch sent Erza careening back, sliding well over thirty meters.

The Fairy Queen winced in pain as she coughed out a bit of spit. She definitely felt the strength behind that punch; however, Erza had a sneaky suspicion that it wasn't Nero's full strength.

Looking up, she locked her attention on Nero, who had a confident grin on his face.

 _'This is useless,_ _'_ she thought, _'He's ready for any attack I have with my armor. Perhaps it's time I give him something different to think about.'_

Straightening her self up, she shouted, "Re-quip!" Suddenly, her form was bathed in golden-white light again.

After the flash faded, Erza had donned an armor that was gold and light bluish in color. The breastplate was lined with golden trimmings and had thin plates extending upwards to surround her neck. Adorning her head was a yellow band with two yellow ribbons on it. Erza's hair was stylized in a long braid. In her right hand was a long spear that had a very large blade and a decorated circle resembling a shield attached to the shaft.

"What kind of armor is that?" Lucy asked.

"That's Erza's Lightning Empress Armor," Happy answered, "It grants her the ability to counter and attack her enemies with lightning."

"Cool trick," teased Nero as he cracked his neck, "What's this one do?"

Erza smirked, "I'm glad you asked."

Holding her spear out, the point aimed right for Nero's chest, some energy began to collect at the tip. A bluish-white energy had formed before she discharged a Lightning Beam right from the tip.

The bolt flew towards Nero but missed as the hunter managed to avoid the bolt at the last second. Erza jumped in the air and hovered in place. She aimed her spear and fired more volleys of Lightning Beams at her adversary, forcing him to run around the area. Nero flipped in the air, spinning around to avoid some bolts before he landed back on the ground.

Sheathing Red Queen, the hunter whipped out Blue Rose and fired directly at Erza. The Fairy Queen, using her trained reflexes dodged the Thorns, but that is what Nero wanted. Suddenly, Devil Bringer started to shine and the hunter let out a shout and four ethereal swords flipped out from the demonic arm and spun around him. Spinning in place for a moment before they launched towards the S-Class Wizard.

Seeing the incoming shots, Erza spread her legs, giving her a wide enough stance to shove her spear into the ground in front of her. A red magic circle appeared but was then replaced by a dome-shaped shield of blue energy. One by one, the swords collided with her shield, but the sharp blades easily penetrated the shield, or at the very least, get lodged inside.

Seeing Nero's glowing swords so easily break through her shield, Erza's eyes widened ever so slightly before remembered one crucial fact about Nero. He was part demon. And from what she's seen about demons, magic is extremely ineffective against them. Meaning that while he was human, his demonic nature made it so that her magical abilities weren't nearly as effective as they would be on normal humans.

Seeing that Erza was distracted, Nero sprinted right towards her before he leaped into the air. Cocking his fist back, the hunter let out a shout as Spectral Bringer formed and flew right at her. The Fairy Queen instinctively jumped back just as he punched the ground, causing a small tremor. The human-demon chased after her, aiming Blue Rose once more and fired two quick shots.

Erza dodged each bullet and counterattacked by jumping up to send a forceful kick into Nero's chest. The impact was enough to knock him into the air, but as he flew back, the hunter aimed one more time at her and fired. The two bullets struck Erza in the shoulder, causing a surprised cry to escape as she looked at her arm. A large bruise was forming, but it didn't matter all that much.

At the same time, Nero landed on his back, sliding a few meters before rolling back onto his feet. His vision locked onto Erza as she also returned her attention to him. Suddenly leaping into the air, she hovered there for a moment before another red magic circle appeared at the tip of the spear. Erza cried out as multiple bolts of blue electricity fired from the magic seal and struck Nero. The hunter let out a yell of pain from her Lightning Cyclotron attack. The strike had enough power to actually shake the ground and cast up a cloud of dust and rock.

"Well, I guess that does it then," Wakaba said. He turned to Macao with a smug expression, "Now, why don't you go ahead and pay up."

Macao glared back at the smoking wizard, "No way! Wait until the dust settles and we'll see for ourselves what happened."

Erza came back to earth and looked into the dust cloud, searching for any sign of her opponent; however, the dust-choked air was obscuring her line of sight.

 _'I can't see him yet, still…,'_ Erza thought, _'that attack should've taken him down.'_

"Okay," came the groan as the hunter emerged from the cloud, dusting himself off, "I actually felt that."

Erza, safe to say, was rather surprised to see him shrug off an attack of such magnitude, but it would make sense as magic had little effect on demons.

"Gotta admit, that packed a punch," stated Nero as he rolled his shoulders and gave her a toothy grin, "but now I want to know if you take as much as you can give."

With that, he holstered Blue Rose and struck a pose, holding Devil Bringer high above as it started glowing orange, **"Volcana!"** he shouted as flames stretched from his palm and took the shape of the demonic guitar. With the instrument in hand, he flipped it around and strummed the strings as hard as he could. As a result, a shockwave of heat shot out from the point where he struck the chord.

The Fairy Queen had no time to react before her body was struck with a wall of sound and heat that sent her sliding back several meters before she caught herself. The crowd of wizards who were there when he first showed the Devil Arm quickly recognized it. It was the soul of the Demoness that captured Lucy, manifested into a weapon.

"Was wondering when he was gonna pull that out," said Natsu, "I like that thing."

The ice wizard glared back at the Dragon Slayer, "Of course you would, dragon breath."

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?!" Natsu exclaimed angrily.

All of a sudden, Erza's body was engulfed in a bright light before she reappeared. Titania re-equipped into her Flame Empress Armor. She looked right at Nero with her lethal looking sword held out in front of her.

"Bad move Nero," stated Erza, "Did you forget that I can counter fire attacks?"

"Oh, I never forgot, if anything, I'm was wondering," corrected Nero, smirking, "I was wondering how much fire you can take before too much, is too much!"

 ** _(Insert Song: Feel Invincible, by Skillet/ I also want to note that I find it ironic that Nero, someone who doesn't really put much faith in the concept of God would be playing a song by a Christian band where the song being used is about God. Or at least that's my take on the song, but the main reason I'm using it is that I find the heavy metal style to be fitting for Nero's personality and the general theme of Devil May Cry.)_**

 _ **(0:00-0:09)**_

Nero strummed the strings once more as he got ready for the next part of his attack. Flames danced around his body as he started a melody, the beat coming out hard and powerful. The flames that followed even more so. And that was before he started to sing and settled into a calmer beat.

 _ **(0:09-0:42)**_

 _"_ _Target on my back lone survivor lasts._ _They got me in their sights. No surrender no._ _Trigger fingers go._ _Living the dangerous life,_ _"_ as soon as the first words left him, the flames shot right towards Erza, forcing the Fairy Queen to leap into the air as the fire struck the ground where she previously stood. Nero continued the steady beat as he started gently bobbing his head, _"_ _Hey, hey, hey everyday when I wake._ _I'm trying to get up, they're knocking me down."_ Suddenly, through the fire coming from the guitar, a fiery figure formed, the physique was feminine and the long hair gave away who it was that joined them.

 _"Chewing me up, spitting me out,"_ sang Volcana, joining in with Nero. The Hunter ignored his co-singer, taking more enjoyment in singing to notice.

 _"Hey, hey, hey when I need to be saved,"_ sung the hunter, _"_ _You're making me strong, you're making me stand."_

 _"Never will fall, never will end,"_ answered Volcana

 _"Shot like a rocket up into the sky,_ _Nothing could stop me tonight!"_ at this point, Nero started strumming harder as he started adding more movement. The added movement and the passion in the song fueled the fire greater, shooting into the sky after Erza, forcing her to twist, spin, dive, and ascend to avoid the flames before a powerful blast forced her back. She tried holding out her sword to absorb the flames, but to her dismay, the flames were too intense for her to absorb all of them as her eyes widened when they collided with her. Making the Fairy Queen wobble in the air as she pulled back.

 ** _*Skip ahead* 1:52-2:26_**

 _"_ _You make me feel invincible!_ _Earthquake, powerful!_ _Just like a tidal wave,_ _You make me brave!_ _You're my titanium;_ _Fight song, raising up!_ _Like a roar of victory in a stadium!_ _Who can touch me 'cause I'm (I'm made of fire)!"_ as Nero sang, Volcana accented his words with her own, grooving to the beat and power of the song as the flames danced around. In fact, so much heat was being produced that the flames were actually melting the ground slightly while the heat was causing a tremendous amount of wind that was actually buffeting a few wizards where they were standing on the sideline, _"Who can stop me tonight (I'm hard wired)!_ _You make me feel invincible!_ _I feel I feel it,_ _Invincible!_ _I feel I feel it,_ _Invincible!"_

 ** _(2:26-2:37)_**

With that, he began the solo, moving his whole body, bobbing his head as the flames rose higher. All the while Volcana danced to the song, a wide grin on her face as the power and intensity of her flames were determined by the speed and intensity of the song played and she actually applauded Nero's choice. And she wasn't the only one.

In the crowd, several wizards were cheering on, Lucy had a look of shock and surprise, still not completely over the idea of such a powerful tool.

"IT'S OFFICIAL!" Cheered Natsu, a wild and truly awestruck expression on his face, "VOLCANA IS THE BEST!"

His comment went unheard due to the volume of the song from Nero, but he honestly didn't really mind as long as Nero kept playing. Suddenly, the music got quiet as he suddenly started to slow down, entering a simple tune while the flames got a bit smaller.

Erza, who was up in the sky, looked down, thinking he was resting. She flew back down, but this might have been a poor decision. As the hunter stood upright, a confident grin on his face while Volcana had one of her own as well.

 _ **(2:46-3:50)**_

 _"_ _You make me feel invincible!"_ his words were softer but still continued power as the flames around the area started picking up, _"_ _You make me feel invincible!"_ Nero suddenly stopped altogether, as he looked right at Erza with a wide grin.

 _"Shot_ _like a rocket up into the sky!_ _Not gonna stop, invincible!"_

With that, he began once more, putting as much power into his voice and into the guitar as Devil Bringer started glowing brightly, _"You_ _make me feel invincible!_ _Earthquake, powerful!_ _Just like a tidal wave!_ _You make me brave!_ _You're my titanium!_ _Fight song, raising up!_ _Like a roar of victory in a stadium!"_ His words were so powerful, the blasted Erza back into the ground while a massive inferno of fire surrounded the air, creating a cyclone of flames right above the hunter and demoness who were creating the song, _"_ _You make me feel invincible!_ _Earthquake, powerful!_ _Just like a tidal wave!_ _You make me brave!_ _You're my titanium!_ _Fight song, raising up!_ _Like a roar of victory in a stadium!_ _Who can touch me 'cause I'm (I'm made of fire)!_ _Who can stop me tonight (I'm hard wired)!_ _You make me feel invincible!_ _I feel I feel it,_ _Invincible!_ _I feel I feel it_ _Invincible!"_

 ** _End_ **

The hunter finished off with one more strike of the flaming strings, creating another shockwave. This one collided right with Erza, smashing her down into the ground, creating a small crater of flames and dust as Nero's fire died down and Volcana vanished.

The eyes of every Fairy Tail member bulged open in shock and disbelief. Makarov's eyes had widened a bit in interest and surprise.

"Whoa," remarked Wakaba, "his fire completely overpowered Erza!"

"How can that be possible?" Macao added, shocked.

"Hey, by the way," Cana said to Macao and Wakaba, "you two owe me money. So pay up."

"WHAT?!" Wakaba and Macao shouted in unison.

She pointed at Wakaba, "You said Erza would only have to re-quip twice to beat Nero. She's re-quipped four times now," the Guild's heaviest drinker then shifted her attention to Macao, "And you bet Nero would beat Erza without using his Devil Arm. You both lose, and I win."

Macao and Wakaba's shoulders slumped as they moaned in defeat, knowing that she was right. Reluctantly, both began digging into their pockets for money they now owed Cana who was smiling triumphantly at the dough she just won.

"I never would've guess that Nero was a talented singer," commented Lucy, still in disbelief that he could actually sing.

"You can't deny that it isn't awesome!" stated Natsu excitedly.

Nero flipped the guitar around to rest it on his shoulder as he smirked deviously at Erza as she was collecting herself.

"You still good to fight, 'Za?" asked the teen giving her a toothy grin.

"I must admit, the music took me by surprise," confessed Erza as she stared at Nero, holding her flaming sword up, "However, I'm ready for what else you can throw at me."

Nero snorted as he took the guitar in both hands, a devious grin spreading across his face as he recalled what Volcana said to him last night, "You sure about that?" asked the hunter in an ominous tone.

To add emphasis, he twisted the guitar where the neck connected to the body. The flames that created the strings as the neck transformed into a sort of shaft, extending to about five feet. The body of the guitar spun a full 180 degree before locking into place. On the back side of the guitar, four rectangular vents formed and burst to life as some flames flickered from them.

The guitar had transformed into a giant battleax. Flipping the axe around, Nero lunged at Erza, the wizard being quick to dodge under the wide swing from the weapon, however, the hunter followed the momentum and swung at her again. The wizard hastily raised her sword to block the axe, however, the collision of the weapon sent Erza flying back where she slid on her heels several meters as the hunter flipped the weapon around.

"Guess she's like Red Queen," commented Nero as he held the shaft of Volcana in her axe form in Devil Bringer and rested it on his shoulder, "She's got power to boot."

The Fairy Queen narrowed her eyes as she honed in on the powerful demon hunter. She didn't show it, but she was astonished by this new weapon.

"There's no shame in giving up you know," offered the hunter, "Throw whatever you've got at me, I'll just take it on and win."

Thinking about Nero's words, Erza found that he was right. There was no way she could reasonably take him on directly. He was the strongest physical combat she's come across in a while. However, that was just physical and she had other armors.

Suddenly, a devious, outside the box type of idea entered Erza's mind. She did possess one suit of armor that could take Nero completely by surprise and shift the tide in her favor. There was just one catch. It was a suit that she had yet to try out and she was saving it for private purposes. But in this situation, against a formidable powerhouse of an opponent like Nero, she decided to make an exception.

Erza felt her face flush a little, knowing what she had to do, "Is that so? Well," her body was shrouded in gold light again.

When the flash died away, Erza was wearing a daring maid outfit composed of a long white apron that was tied behind her neck and back, worn over her bare chest, and revealed much of her breasts' sides. She had adorned a pair of long fishnet stockings that reached up to the middle of her thighs, pair of dark panties that exposed much of her buttocks, and a maid's hat. Ribbons were tied around her arms, and sported heart-shaped elbow guards. In her right hand was a sword with the words 'Come on Boy' emblazoned on the blade. This was Erza's Seduction Armor.

"How about this?" Erza said huskily.

All of the men present were left dumbstruck and starred at Erza in a hypnotized manner with drool trailing from their mouths. The sounds of wolf-whistling could be heard from every corner of the crowd.

"Oh WOW!" a Fairy Tail mage cried out, "Erza's hot!"

Even Master Makarov was drooling in excitement from the sight of the sexy outfit.

The females of Fairy Tail, however, were absolutely shocked. Their faces had paled and their jaws had dropped to the ground.

"W-w-hat is that?" Lucy stuttered; her face had gone white.

"I think that's her Seduction Armor," Happy responded.

Natsu and Gray were both wide-eyed and were stammering incoherently. The sight of the woman they most feared wearing a very revealing outfit was causing them to spaz out of control. Finally, the Dragon Slayer and ice wizard closed their eyes and collapsed to the ground, twitching.

As for Nero, well, let's say that his brain had a complete shutdown. The hunter's eyes went wide as his turned bright red to almost the same color as Erza's hair, contrasted by his white hair. The axe from his shoulder, but was still held in Devil Bringer, as his face portrayed complete shock and dumbfounded. The rational part of his brain told Nero to look away, the rest of him was unable to do so. The hunter was just frozen like a statue while his eyes were fixed right on Erza's sexy body and attire.

Her plan worked just as she had hoped; Erza was smirking triumphantly as she now had the upper hand and the element of surprise. Faster than a person blink, the mage summoned a massive metal mallet and lunged right towards Nero with a battle cry. The hunter was still processing what he just witnessed and was unable to react fast enough when she swung the weapon at his face.

The mallet struck his face dead one, sending the hunter flying back well around thirty to forty meters. He hit the ground pretty hard and tumbled across the ground before he managed to catch himself and land on his feet, though slid about six feet. The strike had snapped Nero out of his stupor and shook his head before he stood up and leveled a glare at Erza.

"I feel violated from how dirty that move was," stated Nero in a contempt tone, eyes narrowed dangerously.

In a gold flash, Erza re-quipped into her usual Heart Kreuz attire. She held her sword loosely in her right hand and rested her left one on her hip. She grinned at her opponent in a mischievous manner.

"You sure handled that armor pretty well," Erza mocked.

"Yeah," stated the hunter as he flipped his ax around and held it with both hands, "But let's see you handle this!"

Without warning, he charged right towards her, faster than anyone in Fairy Tail could guess with a weapon as large as the axe. In a split second, Nero was right on top of Erza, ax raised all the way up. The Fairy Queen raised her swords, but it did little to block the axe as the vents on the anvil suddenly fired, bringing the weapon down harder than he could swing alone. The result was the mage's swords shattering and the axe slamming into the dirt.

The redhead stumbled back as she looked at her broken weapons in shock, which left her open to Nero who lunged at her with Devil Bringer outstretched. His hand slammed into her chest plate while the sharp claws dug in and warmed the metal. Lifting her up, the hunter then slammed her back down to the ground where he dragged the Fairy Queen through the dirt before he threw her into the air. Doing so, he grabbed Erza by her ankle before he slammed her back down and tossed her across the area, tumbling across the ground.

The redhead shook her head as she got to her feet and saw Nero smirking smugly.

"Caught you by surprise," quipped the hunter.

Erza ground her teeth as she stood up, "Re-quip!" she shouted. In flash of golden light, the Fairy Queen switched to her Heaven's Wheel Armor.

Around her, in a sudden white flash, she summoned over a dozen magical swords. Which she sent the blades flying right towards Nero with her telekinesis. The hunter responded by holding up Devil Bringer, creating eight ethereal swords which he positioned in front of him, spinning them in place creating a sort of shield while Erza flew back to put distance between her and Nero.

The ethereal swords deflected the magical ones before the flew right towards Erza. The mage dived to the ground, avoiding one sword before banking to the right to avoid another. As she was focused on avoiding the blades, Nero flipped Volcana around, taking the shaft of the axe in both hands. Swinging the mighty weapon around, he dragged the blade through the dirt briefly, the jets firing as the hunter let out a shout as he swung the axe upward. From the point where the axe was arcing upward, a wave of fire erupted and sped right towards Erza.

The wave of fire caught the redhead by surprise as she was so focused on dodging his swords. The wave slammed into the warrior, exploding on impact. Erza tumbled through the air for a second before she managed to right herself and summon numerous swords around her.

 _'This can't be good...,'_ thought Nero as he gripped Volcana tighter.

After gathering at least thirty swords, Erza soared at Nero with her two swords in hands, but the swords she summoned remained where they were. Shifting his grip, Nero swung his axe at Erza when she came into range. The Fairy Queen blocked the blade by crossing her own, however, the power from the jets on the axe forced her to the ground, her legs nearly giving as the dirt and rock buckled beneath her.

Lifting the axe away, Nero kicked Erza in the stomach, causing her to stumble back before she flew away just in time to avoid the downward swing from him that embedded the axe into the ground. The hunter ripped the axe out of the ground a looked up to see where Erza flew.

 _ **"Scattered Petals!"**_ shouted Erza suddenly. All of a sudden, the thirty swords Erza had re-quipped before glowed in silver-white light before they shot at Nero like a bullet from a gun. With only seconds to react, Nero did the one thing he could; he dropped the axe and performed a spin in the air. Several swords missed the hunter as he twirled in the air, however, there were plenty of others which he was so lucky to avoid.

Sure enough, one sword impaled Nero through the chest while another went through his shoulder and a third impaled his left leg. The hunter let out a cry as he fell to the ground in a heap as some blood began to seep from his wounds. Quite a few wizards in the crowd watching the fight cried out in horror, thinking that Erza had just killed him.

"OH CRAP!" Macao yelled with wide eyes, "She killed him!"

"I knew she'd pummel him, but I didn't think she'd go that far," Wakaba said, shocked.

"WAIT!" Gray shouted, "LOOK!"

Heeding his shout, the wizards all turned to their attention to see Nero getting back up. Safe to say they were completely surprised to see the hunter getting back to his feet, however, they were also a little disturbed as well due to the blood that dribbled out from the corner of his mouth and from his wounds as the teen got to his feet.

"Well, I think I'm big enough to admit, I didn't see that coming," chuckled the hunter as he stumbled slightly but remained standing.

Erza landed several yards in front of Nero; her eyes wide in amazement. She knew he could take a hit, even impalement; otherwise, she wouldn't have performed that attack, but Erza didn't expect him to get back to his feet so fast.

"Very impressive," Erza complimented.

"Honey, I'm amazing," quipped Nero as he spits off to his side, a glob of blood splattering across the dirt, "But if you thought that was something, you haven't seen anything yet."

As Nero said that, he held out his hand, Volcana trembled in the ground for a second before it flew right to his open hand. The hunter held the weapon in his left hand as he grabbed the blades that impaled him and yanked them out. A few wizards gapped at the disregard for his health, especially at the blood that flowed out for a second before his healing factor healed them.

Holding all three blades in Devil Bringer's hand, he draws his arm back and threw them at Erza, but she swiftly jumped in the air to avoid them as they hit the ground right where she used to be. The Hunter took Volcana in two hands and leaped into the air after her, using the jets on the weapon to propel him further. Seeing him coming right at her, Erza summoned more blades out of thin air and launched them to intercept the hybrid demon-human, however, were destroyed when he swung the axe at them.

Using the momentum from the swing, Nero threw the axe at her, the weapon twirling through the air as it collided with Erza. The mage crossed her blades in time to block the weapon, however, was still knocked back a fair distance. The axe flew back to Nero as he started to fall. Using this opening, Erza slashed her two blades in a delta formation, _**"Trinity Sword!"**_

A silver-white energy wave took the shape of a triangle and shot toward Nero, the hunter responding by holding out Devil Bringer. The appendage glowed brightly as he suddenly drew it back and threw a fist right towards the triangle. The result was the energy wave dispersing immediately as the hunter landed on the ground in a crouch.

Volcana suddenly was coated in flames at it vanished into Devil Bringer. The hunter then reached for Red Queen with his left hand and drew the sword quickly, "Let's change things up a little," suggested Nero as Erza looked down at him from the air.

Suddenly, the hunter threw Spectral Bringer right at her, the ethereal appendage grabbed Erza by her leg, letting the hunter slam her down into the ground. With her back down, the hunter lunged right towards the woman, sword raised. The armor-shifting mage was quick to react and defend herself with her blades; however, wasn't ready for when Nero suddenly leaped above her and flip around. The result was, the hunter slashing Erza's back, causing her to stumble forward.

Nero was about to slash at her again, but with her skillfully trained reflexes, she shook off the pain and dodged the sword as it sliced the ground where she previously stood.

"Re-quip!" She shouted, causing her body to be engulfed with gold light. When it disappeared, Erza was now wearing her Black Wing Armor.

She leapt into the air and flew a little away from Nero with her silver sword in hand. Nero responded by taking Red Queen into his right hand and drew Blue Rose with his left. He fired dozens of shots at her, but Titania managed to deflect them with her sword. Holstering the revolver, he retook Red Queen back into his left hand and sent Spectral Bringer right at her. While she might have tried to escape the clutches of the demonic hand, she was caught by her ankle, allowing Nero to pull himself into the air.

Flying right towards her, Nero drew his sword back and slammed his shoulder into the mage. This knocked them back a bit as the hunter grabbed Erza with Devil Bringer and smashed his head into hers. Titania's head snapped back under the power of the blow, but Nero was far from down as he grabbed Red Queen with both hands and throttled the Exceed over and over, flames erupting across the blade. With a powerful yell, he brought the weapon against Erza, unprepared for the incredibly strong strike as flames and metal that sent her flying back with a trail of smoke following her.

The Fairy Tail Mages were all looking up as the battle between the guild's two likely, strongest members. When the strike from Red Queen occurred, Lucy made the comment, "That had to hurt."

However, despite the strength of the attack, Erza was able to push through the pain and recover and get control of herself. She shot right towards Nero who was falling at this point since he couldn't fly, barring down on him. The scarlet-haired wizard held out her sword and slashed in an arc pattern.

 _ **"Moon Flash!"**_

A powerful silver-colored wave fired from her blade and collided with the demon hunter who crossed his arms, using Devil Bringer and Red Queen to block as much of the attack as he could. Nero was sent right towards the Earth with at least a ton of force as when he impacted with the ground, a large cloud of dust and rock erupted.

"However that had to hurt even more," retorted Gray, glancing at Lucy.

Erza flew over the cloud, keeping her sword at the ready as well as her senses for anything short a counterattack. Suddenly, there was a glow from the dust-choked air. It was an azure glow, which grew brighter until a massive roar broke the tense silence.

Erza was forced to shield her eyes as she felt buffeted from the blast of wind that caused the cloud to disperse. Standing at the center of the crater was Nero, but with one major difference. Red Queen was sheathed across his back, but in his hand was a Katana, one that everyone had come to regard as a masterpiece.

From the hunter's body, azure energy flowed like fire whilst his eyes burned bright red. Behind him was the somewhat terrifying ghostly apparition everyone in the guild knew as the Specter. There, Nero stood in his Devil Trigger state.

 ** _"I think it's time I start taking you seriously,"_** quipped Nero as he inspected Yamato.

Without warning, Nero suddenly vanished before he appeared in the air right in front of Erza. She cried out in surprise when Nero suddenly grabbed her with his left hand, the Specter doing the same as he spun her around before flinging her right into the ground with a massive impact. In fact, it was so hard, it caused a small tremor and created a massive cloud of dirt. From within the shallow crater of her own, Erza opened her eyes as pain coursed through her body; excruciating yes, but nevertheless, the trained warrior was back on her feet.

Before her, the hunter landed in front of her with barely a sound as he held Yamato.

 _ **"Well then, come on,"**_ gestured Nero as he beckoned for her to attack, **_"We haven't got all day."_**

Erza ground her teeth together as she stared down the hunter.

"Re-quip!" Her body illuminated in gold light once more. In the wake of the flash, Erza was now adorned in her Giant's Armor.

Nero didn't even flinch from the sudden flash and instead adjusted his stance slightly, resting the blunt side of Yamato on his shoulder. Internally, he was curious; what new trick was pulling out this time?

The teen hunter got his answer when a long, gold and blue pole with a long blade was hurled at him. With barely any effort, he leaned to the side, letting the weapon fly past him with only centimeters to spare. Looking to where the spear went, he glanced back to see Erza lift the Spear of Ha-Ja off the ground and back into her right-hand thanks to her telekinetic abilities.

 _ **"Going with brute strength, huh?"**_ quipped Nero as he dismissed Yamato, but remained in his Devil Trigger.

Erza spun the long spear above her head a few times to gain momentum before she crouched low and shot herself at Nero like a missile. The hunter didn't even try to dodge it. Instead, he deflected the shaft of the weapon to the side, the Specter doing the same. The hunter wrapped his arm around the spear and yanked Erza right towards him. Spinning around, he performed a modified tornado kick that slammed right into Erza's stomach. The force of which sent her flying back.

The redhead groaned as she held her stomach as her feet landed on the ground, digging through the dirt as she steadied herself. Snapping her head up, she quickly raised her spear to block the downward slash from Nero who had drawn Red Queen. The Specter mimicked his movements. The force of the strike caused the ground to buckle and send her five feet down.

Nero pushed down even hard, causing Erza to groan as she was having trouble holding him off. Eventually, she was forced to her knees as she tried pushing back. However, the human-demon's strength was incredible, causing the ground to crack and cave even more.

 ** _"Brute strength's not gonna cut, 'Za,"_** stated Nero, **_"You might wanna try something else."_**

The redhead warrior gritted her teeth; her pained expression was replaced with determination. She put more magical power into her legs. Remarkably, the armor-clad mage fought against the hunter's strength and managed to stand up to look Nero in the eyes. However, he kept his confident demeanor.

"You were saying?" She retorted.

"Whoa," Lucy gaped, "She can stand up?"

"Erza's using her Giant Armor to fight against Nero's power," realized Happy.

Suddenly, Erza, Titania of Fairy Tail, pulled her head back and slammed her forehead into Nero's, catching the hunter off guard. He broke their deadlock shaking his head as he re-focused on Erza. When he did, he saw she cocked back her spear to its acme, and then hurled it straight for him. Sheathing Red Queen, Nero did something no one saw coming. The Hunter threw Devil Bringer up, the Specter copying his moments in order to catch the Spear flying right towards him. The ethereal fingers wrapped around the shaft of the weapon as he leaned back to compensate for the momentum.

 _ **"Catch!"**_ shouted Nero as he flipped the spear around and hurled it right back at Erza.

The mage easily dodged her weapon and jumped at the hunter, kicking him in the gut. Nero hunched forward as he slid back a few feet. In a swift motion, Erza used her telekinetic ability to bring the Spear of Ha-Ja back to her. She leaped at Nero once more, lifting her spear over her head to bring it down onto him. Nero responded by bringing Devil Bringer up to block the strike with his forearm. A large flash suddenly appeared as the weapon collided with the hunter's arm.

Leaping back, Erza lunged at him again, however, Nero blocked her again, however, was taken off guard when she turned her body and jabbed the base of the spear into his side, causing him to hunch over slightly. Erza cried out as she spun her body once more and struck Nero in the face with the long spear.

The strength behind the attack actually made Nero slide across the ground again. Nero brought up his head and glared at Erza; though he had a strong resistance to magic, he was willing to admit, that hurt. The Fairy Queen charged at him and jumped high in the air with her spear held high over her head.

Nero leaped into the air as well, drawing Red Queen as he soared right towards her. Drawing the sword back, he slashed at Erza, who dodged the attack and countered with a thrust with her spear. Nero used Devil Bringer to deflect the spear and quickly slash at her chest twice. Sparks flew as the sword scrath her armor, however, the hunter wasn't finished yet as he suddenly smashed Devil Bringer right into her chest. The Specter adding more force that sent her into the ground with a massive crash.

Some of the Fairy Tail wizards winced from the impact as a large cloud of dust was thrown up.

"That's gotta hurt," noted Gray dryly, though he would admit, it wasn't pleasant.

Nero landed on the ground just as soon as Erza emerged from the cloud. Her body was suddenly engulfed in a golden light.

When it faded, she was now wearing a cheetah printed outfit with a large collar around her neck and a tail hanging from the back of her shorts, both made of bushy fur. On both sides of her head was a pair of large cheetah ears. In her hands was a pair of short swords with elaborate hand-guards similar to a rapier's, shaped like a rose's thorns.

"What's that kind of armor?" Lucy asked.

"That's Erza's Flight Armor," Happy explained, "With it, she can run very, very fast."

 _ **"Cute,"**_ snorted Nero as he rested Red Queen on his left shoulder. It went without saying that the demon-human hybrid was caught by surprise when she charged right towards him at a ridiculous speed. Even with his own insane reaction time, Nero was slashed by Erza with her twin blades across his back, arms, and face.

Nero flew back, digging Devil Bringer into the ground to steady himself as he slid about twelve meters, _**"The fuck was that?"**_ he demanded as he steadied himself. Looking around, he spotted the mage standing a few feet away with her twin blades at the ready.

 _ **"Alright then,"**_ huffed the hunter in annoyance as he brushed some blood away from his cuts which were already fading, _**"Let's try this again."**_

However, before he could attack, Erza sped right towards him landing another powerful slash, this time across his chest. Nero nearly fell but remained standing, but the fast moving armored mage was right back at him. Slashing at his back, causing him to stumble forward. As he was steadying himself, she dashed around and slashed his face with her blades, causing him to snap his head back.

Growling, Nero swung at her with Red Queen, but the redhead easily dodged while countering with a dozen slashes, striking his leg, arms, and chest. It was here that Erza started her hit and run routine, slashing at every single part of Nero. The hunter vainly tried tracking her movements, but couldn't due to her speed. So he was forced to shield his head with Red Queen and Devil Bringer.

Even then, Erza continued her assault, her blades slashing at his body. If he were just human, he'd be cut to ribbons by now. The mages that were rooting for Nero were quickly losing hope as the hunter was getting pummeled. However, for the teen, it was a necessary evil. Throughout the onslaught, he was steadying and memorizing Erza's movements, and sure enough, there was a pattern.

When Erza went in for another run, drawing both her blades and raising them above her head. That's when Nero made his move.

 _ **"ENOUGH!"**_ roared the hunter, his voice echoing as he shot up and threw a right hook right at the mage.

There was enough force behind the attack that a miniature shockwave erupted between them. In fact, the armor shifting mage was sent flying back, all the way across the entire training ground to the other side. Erza grunted each time her body bounced off the ground. When she came to a stop, she rubbed the spot where Nero had punched her as she climbed to her feet, shooting him a scary glare.

 _ **"Don't act like you didn't have that coming,"**_ snapped the hunter as he sheathed Red Queen, **_"In fact, why don't you have a taste of your own medicine!"_**

Devil Bringer lit up brightly as soon as he finished the sentence. Holding out the demonic hand, he snapped his fingers, the Specter mimicking his movements. From the point where he snapped his fingers, an Azure-silver wave swept across the entire area. Erza and the mages all shielded themselves for the blast but felt nothing. Lowering her arms, Titania saw that Nero entered a fighting stance, legs spread and his stance lower while he raised his hands. The Specter disappeared, but the fire-like energy continued to dance across his body as Devil Bringer light up.

Growling, Erza disengaged her blades and sent them back to her personal pocket dimension. If Nero wanted to fight hand-to-hand, so be it. Besides, it wasn't like he could keep up with her.

The mage shot right towards the hunter like a rocket, even as the hunter held his ground. But to her shock and the shock of everyone in the crowd, Nero blocked the attack and countered. A loud bang erupted right after as the platinum blonde slugged Erza in her stomach.

Stumbling back, she pushed through the pain as she went on the offensive, however, she couldn't hit him. Erza chased Nero around the training arena, but no matter what she did, she couldn't touch him. Throwing punches, kicks, jabs, anything she could but nothing she did work. It wasn't until Nero got bored and decided to return the assault. Flipping backward to avoid an axe kick, he dashed right towards her with his right arm outstretched to clothesline the mage. This had the effect of completely flipping her in the air, however, the hunter wasn't finished as he spun around and sent a blade kick right to the center of her back, sending the mage tumbling forward across the ground.

Rolling to her feet, Erza was just able to block a bicycle kick from Nero. The hunter flipped back as he landed back on his feet to block a right hook from Erza with his left forearm. Countering her to punched the mage in the jaw. Without letting up, he sent two more punches, each striking her in the face before he rolled across her back and side-kicked her away.

Moving with the momentum, Erza jumped into the air and spun around, delivering a powerful tornado kick right to Nero's face when he tried to attack her again.

Nero slid across the ground, almost halfway across the training area before he slammed Devil Bringer down to slow himself. Bringing his head up, he glared at his opponent with glowing ruby irises. He recovered instantaneously and shot forward, leaving a trail of dust in his wake. Erza immediately bent her knees and blasted forward as well.

Just as they were about to connect, Nero drew Red Queen and revved the Exceed to the maximum. The sudden appearance of fire caught Erza by surprise and left her open to the rocket-powered upward slash from the massive sword. The mage was sent flying upward. The hunter leaping after her to perform a bicycle kick that sent her back to the ground, smashing into the dirt and dug a trench that stretched at least ninety feet.

Landing back down on the ground, the hunter waisted no time and leaped right to the Fairy Queen who was getting back to her feet. Gliding across the ground, or at least that's what it appeared like, Nero outstretched Devil Bringer, the Specter appearing right behind him, mimicking his movements so its ethereal hand grabbed Erza by her chest. Lifting her in the air, both hunter and specter pulled their right fists back and punched the redhead right in the stomach, sending her back another thirty yards before she came to a stop. However, she fell to her knees, steadying herself with her hands as she panted slightly.

"Oh wow!" She shrieked fearfully. "They're really getting into it."

"Aye," Happy agreed cheerfully.

"It's an awesome fight, huh Lucy?" Natsu asked; a bright smile on his face.

"More like terrifying." Lucy deadpanned.

Erza clenched her teeth and suppressed a groan. Pain was flowing through her body in waves. As she stood up, her arms shook and struggled to hold her up. Erza's body was now covered in dirt, cuts, and bruises while her Flight Armor was tattered in places.

 _ **"I'm not done!"**_ shouted a demonic voice, snapping Erza out of her daze. Looking up, she saw Nero had leaped into the air, his right hand pulled back once more as he began to descend toward her. In spite of the pain, Erza dove out of the way just as Nero and the Specter brought down their fists into the ground, creating a small crater.

Leaping after her, Nero raised Red Queen, the Specter following his movements, despite not having a sword of its own. Erza sprinted in an erratic pattern to try and throw him off, but the hunter was quick to follow her. However, he soon got tired of this and twirled Red Queen around. Coming to a stop in one place, he let out a yell as he spun around and swung the sword with all his might. The result was a powerful gust of wind in all directions. The sudden blast of air caught Erza off guard and was knocked across the entirety of the training grounds by the wind.

Elfman's mouth dropped a little, his expression portraying shock; however, his shock immediately transformed into excitement, "OH YEAH! Now that's manly!"

Nero charged right towards Erza, who was standing up, however, shakily, but was taken off guard by the sudden flash of gold light. Using his right arm to shield his eyes, the hunter looked back to see flying at him were several flying swords. Reacting quickly, he swung Red Queen to shatter the incoming weapons while backpedaling slightly.

After a short barrage of sharp objects, Nero now had the chance to see Erza was now in her Heaven's Wheel Armor once more. However, he took notice of the look of determination in her eyes; a look that spoke volumes of never giving in. Nero smirked as he rested Red Queen on his shoulder.

 _ **"Glad to see you getting serious now,"**_ taunted Nero, brushing his coat off with his right hand, the Specter doing the same, _**"Now let's see if you can back it up."**_

Suddenly, he swung out Devil Bringer, in a flash, Yamato appeared in his right hand. Now holding one sword in one hand, the hunter twirled the weapons around as he entered a stance.

As Erza floated in the air, a dozen magical swords flashed into existence around her, "Dance, my blades!" The swords began to float around her, **"Circle Sword!"**

After taking a disc formation, the blades shot toward Nero, who narrowed his eyes as he swung both Yamato and Red Queen at the incoming weapons. The legendary katana sliced through the weapons like butter while Red Queen just straight up shattered them. Pieces of weapons fell to the ground as the hunter twirled his weapons around. However, he soon had to backflip to allow a large barrage of them. When the swords crashed into the ground, a heavy amount of dirt and rock was thrown up and rained down on Nero.

He used Devil Bringer to try to shield himself from the dust-choked air. Visibility inside the dirt storm was relatively zero. His eyes widened once more, he knew that he was not a good position right now.

Without warning, Erza soared into the dust cloud and slashed her twin blades against Nero's chest in an X-shaped pattern. The Hunter stumbled back as a spray of blood shot out of his wounds before healing rapidly.

Just as Erza flew off, she shouted, **"Scattered Petals!"**

Not to be taken off guard again, Nero flexed his arms around, eight swords appearing around and spun like blades to block several dozen swords. However, a few got through and impaled him in a few places and knocked him back a couple yards. Rolling across his back, the hunter was back on his feet in time to let out an angered yell. He swung Yamato with all his might, the blade flashing brightly as a huge wave of energy was sent right to Erza.

The wave exploded when it collided with her, knocking the mage back a little but she recovered quickly and flew towards Nero with a couple dozen swords with her. Nero easily dodged the attack by leaping to the side, allowing her blades to collide with the Earth. Flying after him, Erza summoned more swords around her and launched right towards Nero.

Nero rapidly swung both swords in his hands, shattering the weapons as the came at him. However, he was forced to jump back and flip to avoid several blades that he couldn't destroy.

 _ **"Okay, I getting tired of this!"** _snapped Nero as a blade sliced his left arm. He glanced over to see that his healing factor wasn't healing as fast as it should. This meant she was actually wearing him down.

 _'Finish it,'_ whispered a voice in the back of Nero's mind. The hunter heard and through his tired and adrenaline running mind, he adhered to it.

Erza leaped at Nero once more, bringing both her swords down on him. However, Nero easily dodged this by backflipping at least thirty feet into the air. Flipping through the air, he sheathed Red Queen and dismissed Yamato. Letting out a growl, he drew back Devil Bringer, the Specter doing the same, however, when he did, the arm started glowing brighter as energy coursed around it. With a powerful yell, he sent the Specter's hand right towards the Red Head. The beings large hand grabbed her by the chest, the claws digging into her armor as the hunter was suddenly pulled right towards.

Maneuvering himself around, Nero aimed both his heels at Erza, smashing into the mage like a missile and smashed her into the ground. Flipping off, he landed on his feet before rushing towards Erza, drawing Devil Bringer back he slugged her right in the jaw.

Suddenly, the Specter didn't copy his movements. Instead, catching all the wizards in the audience by surprise, the ethereal projection followed up his attack by performing a left uppercut. Working in tandem, the hunter and the Specter rained down hell. The hunter slamming his left boot in her stomach while the Specter brought a double uppercut, interlocking its fingers to snapped Erza head up. Performing another right hook, the Specter brought both its arms down on Erza' shoulder's smashing her into the ground.

Taking the opening, Nero wrapped his arms around Erza's waist and lifted the mage right into the air. Flipping her around, he held her legs and brought the Fairy Queen down for a powerful powerbomb which shattered the ground. Erza suppressed her cries of pain as the hunter suddenly grabbed her ankle and flipped her around to smash her onto her stomach. Practically rag dolling her, Nero smashed her into the ground several times before the Specter grabbed Erza by the shoulders and held her in place.

Nero then lashed out his left hand, fingertips digging into the armor, covering her stomach. He opened Devil Bringer's palm and slammed it directly into her chest. The result was large chunks of Erza's armor getting ripped clean off. Erza tumbled across the ground while Nero and the Specter tossed the broken pieces of armor away. With one more yell, Nero drew Devil Bringer back, the Specter mimicking his movements this time. However, as he was doing this, energy began to pour out of his right arm while the Specter's own right arm practically flowed with it and the entity started to grow in size.

Erza's eyes widened when she realized what he was doing. Before she could react, Nero and the Specter brought down a massive fist right down onto her. The earth shook from the impact while a cloud of dust was thrown up.

The Fairy Tail wizards starred in anxiety and anticipation. All of them were wondering what happened. When the dust settled the saw the faint azure glow and semi transparent appearance of the Specter shrinking in size as it bent down to pick up something.

All most all of the wizards gasped in shock when they saw Nero come out with an unconscious Erza in his arms, the mage's Heaven's Wheel Armor torn to shreds while her swords that she had been previously telekineticly lifting lay scattered across the area. The armor had numerous spots where it had been broken while Erza herself had received dozens of cuts and bruises across her body.

Carrying her out of the dust, his Devil Trigger vanishing, the hunter laid Erza on the ground, a low moan escaping her lips.

"I think we're about done," stated Nero as he knelt beside her.

"This fight is over!" Makarov exclaimed, "And Nero is the winner!"

For a tense moment, silence ruled over all the mages gathered. All of them in shock and bewilderment as to what they just witnessed and heard. Despite neither of them going all out, however, it looked like Nero was close to doing so, they couldn't believe that Erza actully lost. Taking a hot minute for the outcome of the situation to sink in, practically all the wizards erupted in a massive wave of cheers and congradulations, most for Nero like he received when he defeated Natsu.

Even though most of them bet on Erza and lost money, they couldn't help but cheer for Nero and his well-earned win.

However, Natsu and Gray were both a completely different story all together.

"NO WAY! ERZA ACTUALLY LOST?!" They both shouted together, their expressions depicting shock.

"Makes you think twice about challenging Nero next time, huh?" Lucy noted.

"YAY!" Happy yelled, enthused, "I just won a lot of money! I wonder how much fish I can buy!"

"SERIOUSLY?!" Lucy hollered, "YOU'RE GONNA SPEND IT ALL ON FISH?!"

"I don't believe it," gaped Wakaba as his pipe fell to the ground as his mouth dropped "Erza, our Erza, Queen of the Fairies… _lost_?"

"Yeah," Macao replied, "though I bet on Nero, I'm still completely surprised if I'm honest."

Elfman smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, "Now that's a real man right there."

"And that real man just won me a ton of money! Woo-hoo!" Cana cheered as she jumped in excitement.

Erza groaned again as her eyes fluttered open. Her vision was blurry and all she could see was a yellow and black figure standing by her. When her eyes readjusted, she could see a platinum blonde kneeling beside her on one knee. The hunter held out his Demon Hunter for her to take.

As her dazed state passed, Erza reached out and grabbed Devil Bringer, letting him pull her to her feet. However, she nearly fell when her knees almost gave out, but she didn't fall as Nero held her gently and kept her from collapsing. In a flash of gold, Erza re-quipped into her Heart Kreuz armor.

"You good, Erza?" asked Nero looking her directly in the eyes, worried that he went overboard.

Erza turned to look at him hard with a frown, her right eye concealed by her hair. Nero wasn't worried though he was cautious; but he had to admit, Erza's scarlet hair was beautiful.

 _'Wait, what? "Beautiful?"'_ thought the hunter, _'Well... it is... I guess.'_

The redheaded warrior's frown turned into a smile, "I will be."

"There's a trick I learned a while back to heal others," offered Nero as he summoned Yamato, the sword held in its sheath, "I can do that and-"

"I appreciate your kindness, but I'll be alright, Nero," cut in Erza as she shook her head.

"Congratulations on the win," she continued, "I must admit, I've never been in a fight like that before."

"Well you've never fought anyone like me before," added the Hunter jokingly, earning a smile from Erza, "But I gotta admit, there's a damn good reason you're called the 'Queen of the Fairies'. Had me on the ropes a few times there. I'm big enough to admit you're a really good fighter and an even better swordswoman. Guess this is why no one wants to get on your bad side."

Erza smiled from his compliment, "It's been a long time since I have ever lost at anything," Her determined smile returned, "I will train harder to defeat you in our rematch someday."

"Well good luck," chuckled Nero as he folded his arms, "You'll need it."

"Master, can you believe it? Erza really lost a fight?" Mirajane asked, shocked.

With his head hung low, he hummed in contemplation, "Yes. Very impressive that Nero managed to defeat one of our strongest S-Class wizards."

 _'He'll make an excellent candidate for the S-Class trial next year,'_ He thought.

"However, I really envy him," Makarov continued.

Mirajane turned to him, confused, "Why, master?"

The dwarf-sized mage laughed giddily, "Because he got the full view of Erza's Seduction Armor and kissed by a gorgeous woman. OH WOW! NOW THAT IS ONE LUCKY YOUNG MAN!"

"MASTER!" Mirajane reprimanded.

Elfman walked up behind Nero, "Great job, Nero!" He applauded, "That was one of the manliest fights I've ever seen!"

With closed eyes, the white-haired giant slapped the back of Nero's head for congratulations; but, Elfman unintentionally caused Nero to stumble forward and lose Yamato. The sword and sheath went flying into the crowd.

Lucy saw an object flying through the air right towards her. She stretched her arms out and caught the object and brought it to eye level. In her hands was the katana sheath and all.

"Oh boy...," groaned Nero as he swayed in place before falling onto his back.

"Nero!?" gasped Erza as she knelt down beside the hunter as a film of sweat formed on his forehead while he panted in exhaustion, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just can I have Yamato back?" gasped the hunter as he sat up.

Seeing his friend in distress, Natsu rushed toward Lucy and grabbed the sheath, "Hang tight, Nero!"

The Dragon Slayer then leaped towards Nero and threw the sword at him. This only accomplished in the base of the sheath striking the hunter in the forehead, knocking him onto his back as he groaned. The Yamato meanwhile fell on his chest.

"Why would you think that it was a good idea to throw it at him!?" demanded Cana as she lifted her mug and smashed the bottom of it into Natsu's skull, driving him face first into the dirt.

"No, I'm good," groaned Nero as he sat up again, holding his forehead with his right hand, "Caught me by surprise is all."

"What happened?" asked Gray as he, Lucy, Happy, and a few other wizards gathered around Nero as he stood up.

"Well, you see, Yamato is the source of my Devil Trigger," explained Nero as the second he gripped it with Devil Bringer it appeared as though he could go another ten rounds with Erza, "Without it, severely depowered, everything is not as strong. Total strength would be brought down to, like, twenty percent of what I can really do."

Erza blinked in surprise, _'Without Yamato, Nero is practically handicapped,'_ the mage thought before she narrowed her eyes and frowned, _'That would have been useful to know during the fight.'_

With Yamato back in hand, the hunter took a deep breath as the weapon shined brightly before it vanished into Devil Bringer, "That's better," said the hunter as he stood up and stretched, "Feels weird without Yamato in me."

"IN YOU?!" Shrieked Lucy, "WHY WOULD YOU KEEP A SWORD IN YOU FOR MAVIS'S SAKE!"

"Easier to carry and easier to keep safe," shrugged Nero.

"Alright," Makarov announced, "this fight is over. Everyone pick up your things and head back to the construction site or your homes."

With that, the Guild members picked up any stuff that they brought and began to walk down the path that led back to Magnolia.

Nero stretched as he rolled his shoulder and checked to see if any wounds were still healing. With a quick inspection done he dusted off his coat while making a mental note to talk to Mira to fix his tattered coat and clothing.

He was about to meet up with the rest of his team until Erza stopped him by turning him to face her.

"Something wrong, 'Za?" asked Nero, but as soon as he did, she cocked her armored fist back and punched him in the gut.

The hunter flinched for a second before looking at her in surprise, "Please don't call me that."

"Okay," coughed Nero as he spits to the side, "I can take a hint."

The redhead's angry mood instantly vanished and was replaced by cheerfulness, "Now, let's head back to the Guild. Coming Nero?"

"Right," scoffed Nero as he gave her a smirk, "act like you didn't just punch me."

Erza rolled her eyes as she and Nero turned to head back to the guild. However, as they were leaving, there were some eyes watching the entire battle from the shadows of the surrounding forest. Approximately four sets of eyes to be accurate.

* * *

 _Outer Edge of Training Grounds_

On a hill in the East Forest, not too far away from Erza's training ground, four figures had been watching the fight.

The first figure was a slim man of average height with waist-length light-green hair; his bangs were brushed to one side, covering the majority of the right side of his face, as well as a pair of thin strands jutting out backward from the sides of his head, both shaped like lightning bolts. He wore a knee-length, double-breasted dark red coat with lighter-colored cuffs. Strapped to his black leather belt on his left hip was his sword.

This was Freed Justine, leader of the Thunder Legion; one of the strongest teams in Fairy Tail that acted as Laxus's personal bodyguards.

The second figure was a tall, mildly muscular built man whose eyes were concealed by a silver grill that resembled the faceguard of a knight's helmet. He wore a dark, mildly fitting outfit with white vertical stripes that stretched to his head, which was covered in a tight hood except for his face. His arms were adorned with two large armbands, and he possessed large shoulder pads each with a skull on its center. His waist was circled by a simple dark band, which held up a massive waist-guard made of cloth, which came in four long, light-colored pieces, each adorned by a dark "X", reaching down below his knees.

This was Bickslow, the second member of the Thunder Legion. Hovering around him were five wooden, can-shaped dolls with darker-colored wings attached to both sides and had different faces painted on them. These were Bickslow's dolls that were created by his Seith Magic, which allowed the caster to seal wandering souls inside objects and manipulate them as they wish.

The third figure was a woman with a very voluptuous figure paired with very large breasts and curvy hips. Her hair was light brown and stylized in a sideward ponytail and she had a pair of oval-shaped glasses over her dark brown eyes. She wore a green dress, moveable white wings on her back, and navy blue stockings with white sandals.

This was Evergreen, the third member of the Thunder Legion.

The fourth and final figure was a tall, well-muscled young man with spiky blonde hair, spiked headphones over his ears, and a lightning bolt scar over his right eye. He wore a dark green shirt, a black coat with gray fur trim, and wine red pants.

This was Laxus Dreyar, the grandson of Master Makarov, and an S-Class wizard; he was one of Fairy Tail's top contenders for the title of _'most powerful wizard in Fairy Tail.'_

Laxus and the Thunder Legion had heard of the fight between the Guild's newest addition, Nero Sparda, a powerful Demon-Slayer Mage, and Erza Scarlet, the Queen of the Fairies, that was scheduled today. Like the other mages, they had come to watch the fight, but stood off to the side out of sight of Fairy Tail. Standing at the front of the quartet was Laxus who had his arms crossed over his chest. He stared at the demon hunter with a frown.

"He's quite powerful and skilled wouldn't you say, Laxus?" asked Freed as he approached the mage.

"Whatever," scoffed Laxus, "he's still a kid."

"Kid or not," cut in Bickslow with an excited yell," He's a lot stronger than any of those weaklings down there; minus Makarov! Isn't that right, babies?"

The wooden dolls around him all voiced their agreements in happy-sounding voices.

As Bickslow was playing with his dolls, Evergreen stepped forward for a look herself at the training ground. As Nero stood up and dusted himself off, the mage smiled lustfully to herself, "Hmm... not only powerful, he's also really cute as well."

Freed and Bickslow looked at the brown haired woman, confused. The former shook his head and looked back at Laxus, "So Laxus," began Freed, "do you believe he would make a fine addition to the Thunder Legion?"

Laxus didn't answer as he turned and walked away with a scowl on his face. The Thunder Legion watched him saunter off, perplexed on why he seemed so angry. The three wizards turned their gaze back to Nero who stopped for a second, he glanced back and right at them. Each wizard was caught a little by surprise, but even more so when he gave them a salute as he turned back and started a light jog to catch up.

"What do you two think?" asked Freed to his two teammates.

"Hmph...," hummed Bickslow, smiling almost psychotically, "certainly seems strong enough for me."

"Powerful wizard, attractive body, sharp personality, handsome face," her gaze then traveled further and a light blush appeared on her face, "cute butt. He defeated Erza. Oh yes, I want him for sure."

Bickslow looked at her peculiarly, "Do you want him on our team or do you actually _want_ him?"

The brown-haired beauty smiled shyly and blushed, "Both," she replied.

Freed and Bickslow both sweatdropped.

"Getting back to business," Freed said, "one of us should ask him to join us on our mission. It'll allow us a chance to gauge his strength and determine if he can be an ally of Laxus."

The leader of the Thunder Legion didn't have to wait before someone quickly volunteered.

* * *

 _ **Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Magnolia**_

 _*Later...*_

About an hour after the fight, Mirajane had announced that despite the ongoing construction, the Guild would be taking on job requests again. This immediately got everyone excited as a crowd gathered around the Request Board to find a job. Other wizards were by the bar area, drinking beer and talking; mainly about the earlier fight.

However, despite everything that was going on, there was one member of Fairy Tail that wasn't standing over by the Request Board, or lounging at the bar. It was Nero who was sitting at a table, legs kicked up and leaning back in the chair. Red Queen was resting against the table as the hunter took a swig of his beer before uncrossing his legs and sat forward to rest his mug on the table and lean on his elbows. Deciding to take a little power nap, the hunter got a drink and was enjoying his win. However, he wasn't enjoying it as much as he should be due to one instance.

That voice...

Sighing, the hunter pushed his drink off to the side and laid his head down on the table for a little nap. Soon, he was snoring lightly.

Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy were by the Request Board searching for a job. The former two were arguing which job would be the best, while Lucy sweat dropped in annoyance. Happy glanced behind him and noticed Nero napping on a table nearby. His eyes then spotted a set of headphones in his coat pocket a small device in the same pocket. Cocking an eyebrow, the cat flew over to Nero's slumbering form and gently landed next to him.

He eyed the two devices in wonder before he reached out and took them out before flying onto the table. The device looked like a glass rectangle with a black face and silver back. Seeing a small button he pressed it and the glass lit up. The device beeped as an image appeared.

"Ooh," said Happy as a bright smile appeared. He pressed the button again and the screen changed to reveal multiple little objects. One was labeled music.

"Wonder what it means by muisc," whispered Happy as he touched the icon and revealed numerous songs.

Erza was having a drink of her own while sitting at the bar. She saw Natsu and Gray by the Request Board getting into each other's face, ready to fight. The redhead frowned and made her way over there until she spotted Happy. He was playing with something on Nero's table while the hunter himself was snoring lightly.

The armored warrior changed direction and stopped by the table, standing behind Happy with her arms crossed over her breastplate, "What do you think you're doing, Happy?" She asked.

Upon hearing Erza's voice, Happy yelped in terror and accidentally fell forward onto the device, selecting a certain song. In the sudden motion, he also dropped the headphones which clattered on the table. The device's speakers flipped 180 degrees until they were facing out, as a result, they became more powerful speakers.

Suddenly a song started playing.

 _(I'm Dangerous -Everlove)_

The sudden start of the song caught the attention of nearby Fairy Tail Wizards like Natsu, Gray, and Lucy. The beat was slow, but was strong and easily drew more attention.

 _"_ _At first I was afraid, I was afraid,_

 _Down in the darkness I was crawling through the human race,_

 _I heard the voices through the dark (oh oh oh oh oh oh oh),_

 _So I beat my fist against my chest against my heart,"_

"Woah," commented Elfman as he walked over and picked up the headset, "What this supposed to be?"

"I don't know," responded Lucy, "Maybe it plays music. Nero did say in his word they were more advanced than us."

A few more wizards such as Macao, Wakaba, and Mirajane approached the table that had the phone lying on the table. They looked at the device as the screen glowed brightly while the name of the song was displayed.

"I kinda like it," commented Natsu.

 _"_ _Hey-ho!_

 _Hear the sound,_

 _We are the underground,_

 _Hey-ho!_

 _Rising up,_

 _We're not afraid of fighting._

 _I've finally found my place,_

 _I put the war paint on my face,_

 _And I'm ready to give (hey!) whatever it takes._

 _Standing at the edge of the fire,_

 _Fighting for the will to survive,_

 _I feel it burning under my skin,_

 _And I'm back on my feet again._

 _This is the feeling,_

 _I can't believe it,_

 _My heart is bleeding out,_

 _Now I'm dangerous._

 _Feeding the fire._

 _Higher and higher,_

 _Rising up, rising up,_

 _Now I'm dangerous._

 _Silence the voices in my head,_

 _I picked my poison now I'll drink it to the bitter end,_

 _Hey-ho! Hear me now!_

 _I take on the darkness by myself_

 _'Cause I'm ready to give (hey!) whatever it takes._

 _Standing at the edge of the fire,_

 _I don't know how I ever survived,_

 _I feel it burning under my skin,_

 _And now I'm back on my feet again._

 _This is the feeling,_

 _I can't believe it,_

 _My heart is bleeding out,_

 _Now I'm dangerous._

 _Feeding the fire,_

 _Higher and higher,_

 _Rising up, rising up,_

 _Now I'm dangerous._

 _This is the feeling,_

 _I can't believe it,_

 _My heart is bleeding out,_

 _Now I'm dangerous._

 _Feeding the fire,_

 _Higher and higher,_

 _Rising up, rising up,_

 _Now I'm dangerous._

 _(Oh oh oh oh oh oh,_

 _Oh oh oh oh oh)._

 _I'm dangerous!_

 _Rising up, rising up,_

 _Now I'm dangerous."_

With that, the song finished while the mages in the hall were left intrigued and curious to know more about the kind of music Nero listens to. However, before anyone could comment on anything, Happy hoped down from the table and began to rummage through Nero's pockets.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" demanded Lucy as she grabbed Happy and tried pulling him away, but the cat held onto Nero's coat, "YOU CAN'T SEARCH HIS POCKETS!"

"But he has cool stuff!" Happy protested as he hung on, "I wanna know what else he has!"

"I DON'T CARE!" Snapped Lucy, "YOU DON'T GO THROUGH PEOPLE'S POCKETS!"

"Happy," Erza growled, her eyes glowing red.

Happy squealed as he instantly let go and flew behind Lucy, shaking in trepidation. "I'm sorry, Erza." He pleaded. "I was just curious of how he tasted."

Natsu laughed, "Curiosity almost killed the cat. Huh?"

"Ugh," everyone groaned at Natsu's bad pun.

When the moment passed, everyone turned their gaze back to a slumbering Nero.

"So the guy likes music, huh?" commented Wakaba.

"He doesn't really talk much about himself," added Mira.

"I'm curious myself," admitted Erza, "There's still a lot we don't know about Nero."

As they were talking, Natsu grabbed the device and touched the screen, however, when he did, nothing happened, "Why won't it work?"

He then began to tap harder as he was getting frustrated.

"Natsu, be careful," cautioned Mira, her eyes widening, "I don't think Nero'll be happy if you break it."

"Yeah, guy takes his stuff seriously," Gray interjected for himself, "trust me, I know."

"Huh?" wondered everyone, confused.

"What happened?" asked Lucy.

Before Gray could answer, they heard a banging as Natsu started hitting the device against the table, "Why won't it work!"

The banging caused Nero to wake up as his eyes snapped open. The first thing he saw was Natsu banging his phone against the table. Seeing his phone getting beaten, immediately caused the hunter to leap into action.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" bellowed Nero as he leaped from his chair and slugged Natsu in the face. The impact sent him flying into the bar's counter as the phone flipped through the air. The hunter looked up and caught the phone in his hands. Checking the device over, he sighed in relief as he found there was nothing broken. The sudden action did cause a few wizards to be caught by surprise.

Looking in his pocket, he noticed his headset was gone. Looking around he spotted Elfman holding it. Frowning he stalked over and took the headset back from the giant before turning to face a certain pink haired wizard, "Why did you think banging my phone against the table would be a good idea?"

Natsu blinked a couple times with a clueless expression on his face, "What's a phone?"

Nero narrowed his eyes as he walked towards Natsu and proceeded to bang his right hand on his head, knocking the wizard down to the ground.

"This is a phone," supplied Nero as he held the device in front of Natsu, "which you're never going to touch again."

"HA!" Gray laughed, "Nice one, Nero!"

"Where are your clothes?" demanded Lucy.

"OH C'MON!" The ice mage's smugness was replaced by panic, "HOW DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?"

Natsu grunted as he got up from the wrecked countertop, "What's the deal, man? I barely touched it!"

"Yeah," scoffed Nero as he slipped both objects back into his pocket, "banging an object against a table repeatedly is total gentle. In fact-" he grabbed Natsu by the back of his scarf and lifted him up with his left hand, "Let's see if you think this is gentle!"

With that, Nero proceeded to smash him into the already broken counter three times before slugging him in the face with Devil Bringer knocking Natsu out as he fell onto his back, his eyes swirling while he groaned.

"Little extreme, don't you think?" commented Wakaba.

"Ah, flame brain had it coming," shrugged Gray.

* * *

 _*Later...*_

Later, after Natsu had recovered, he had gotten mad and challenged Nero to another fight. The demon hunter raised Devil Bringer and threatened to treat him like a ragdoll and spin him around like the first time the fought. The thought of being spun around again instantly made Natsu sick, and he quickly backed down; much to Gray's amusement.

Now, Nero was sitting at the bar finishing off his beer, deciding to relax for the rest of the day. No more fights. No demons trying to kill him. No jobs. Just him and relaxation.

In his head, a feminine voice cleared her throat. Making the hunter roll his eyes as he remembered that Volcana was still a part of him.

However, the relaxing moment was interrupted when he heard someone approach him, "Well, well," a feminine voice said, "who do we have here?"

Nero turned in the direction of the voice, which was his right and the first thing he saw was a very impressive bust that was barely withheld by a green dress. The hunter noticed the Fairy Tail Logo stamped on the woman's right breast. Whoever it was, definitely had a nice rack and also had light brown hair stylized in a sideways ponytail, and wore a pair of oval-shaped glasses.

Nero blinked passively as he kept a neutral expression. His hunter mind was in control as he heard that tone of voice before. Many times when he ran into a Succubus or female demon or demoness. This woman was quite attractive, however, he kept calm, even as her large, barely concealed breasts were right in front of him.

"Something I can do for you?" asked Nero calmly as he leaned on the bar, "Don't think I've seen you around. Would've remembered someone like you if I had."

"Charmer," chuckled the woman as she smiled bashfully, "My name is Evergreen."

"Nero," returned the hunter as he took a swig of his beer.

From the tables close by, a few mages were watching the interaction between Nero and Evergreen with interest.

"Whoa," Wakaba said, "Evergreen? She hardly ever comes to the Guild."

"Yeah," Macao added, "Why's she so close to Nero?"

"No way," Droy remarked from the table next to Macao and Wakaba's, "Is she…flirting with him?"

"That's new," Jet said with wide eyes. Their comments went unheard as Evergreen and Nero spoke.

"Not sure if I've heard of you, maybe I have," spoke Nero smoothly, "You part of a team, or are you a solo?"

"I'm part of a team," smirked the brown-haired beauty, "The Thunder Legion, the strongest team in Fairy Tail."

"Pretty bold statement," snorted Nero, however, he squinted his eyes as he thought about something, "I think I've heard of your leader, Laxus I think."

"That's right," nodded Evergreen, before she continued, "Anyways, Nero, I just came by to ask you something."

"That being?" inquired Nero with a disinterested glint in his eyes.

"If you're interested," offered Evergreen as she leaned in, her breasts inching closer to Nero's face, the hunter casually leaning back in a manner that looked natural, "Would you care to join me and my team on a mission?"

This shocked the mages who were eavesdropping on Evergreen and Nero.

"Did she really just ask him to go on a job with her?" Macao said, surprised.

"And with the Thunder Legion?" Wakaba added, "That's never happened before."

Meanwhile, Erza stepped toward the bar area. She had just accepted a request from the S-Class board and had sent the client a letter of notification of her accepting the job and her arrival. As per the standard of an S-class job, it was going to be dangerous and Erza had a feeling that she may need backup. She was about to search for her team and ask them if they could accompany her until she spotted Evergreen and Nero.

The armored warrior noticed how very close the brown-haired woman was in Neros personal space and was leaning back to avoid having to look completely at her breasts. When she heard Evergreen ask Nero to join her on a job, Erza froze.

 _'Why would Evergreen of all people ask Nero to join her on a mission?'_ Titania thought. She then took note of Evergreen's coy smile and how she seemed to be eying Nero like a hunk of meat. Her eyes abruptly narrowed as she tightly clenched her armored fists, _'I see._ '

Without a word, she headed straight for the duo. A trail of steam hissing out from her ears in her wake.

"Oh, now I remember," announced Nero as he smirked and chuckled, "You're on Laxus the Spinless's Team."

The statement alone caused everyone in the bar area to freeze and look at Nero in complete shock. Erza and Evergreen looked in complete surprise, the former freezing in her tracks her eyes widened while the later almost recoiled.

"W-What?" she stammered before composing herself, "Nero, I'm certain you've heard more than a few stories about-"

"About how 'Laxus's the strongest wizard in Fairy tail,' that he's 'the most powerful excluding Makarov,' that 'no one can beat him.' Yeah I've heard the _rumors_ ," cut off Nero as he folded his arms.

"Exactly my point," pressed Evergreen, seeing that he was as easy as she thought, "Laxus only takes in the strongest mages to be part of the Legion. And I'm certain he'd welcome you-."

"To do his dirty work," interrupted the Demon Hunter once more, "I've seen how he works. Guys like Laxus, the talk big game, but when shit hits the fan, he doesn't wanna get his hands dirty."

"You don't know Laxus as I do," defended Evergreen, "I used to be on my own team, but I left all that behind."

"'Because Laxus's the real deal', blah, blah, blah," snorted Nero as he folded his arms. Evergreen was about to speak, but he cut her off before she could start, "Listen Evergreen, I tell you're a nice girl and that you've got a good head on your shoulders, but I'm not buying what your selling."

Nero snorted wryly, "Wouldn't be a good hunter if I took everything said to me at face value," he then turned to Evergreen, "What I'm saying is, it's not that I don't believe that you want me on the team, it's that I'm more inclined to believe my own assumptions about Laxus based on what I've seen."

"And what I've seen about the guy, is that he's a total jackass, who's getting too big for his boots, thinking nothing can touch him and talks shit to anyone he can when he gets the opportunity. Not to mention, I've never met any of your team," added the hunter, giving the woman a hard look, "I only work with people I know. But before you get all sappy and pleady, let me straighten something out. Just because I'm not willing to work with you now, doesn't mean I'm not open to doing so."

"Does that mean-," asked Evergreen, her hopes rising, but were shut down pretty quick.

"I'll give anything a shot once, but not right now," interrupted Nero, "Right now, I've got a job to do with Erza. Ain't that right?"

Erza was snapped out of her surprise and composed herself. She walked over to stand behind him as a somewhat scary frown formed on her face, "That is true, he's already going on a job with me," she nodded.

Evergreen turned away from Nero and shot a nasty glare at the opposing woman, "Titania Erza," Evergreen spat out with resentment in her voice, "What do you mean he's going on a job with you?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," cut in Nero as he stood up and adjusted his jacket, glancing at Evergreen, "Figured I'd stretch my legs and get a workout before heading on a job."

"Besides;" added Erza, "he's part of my team and I don't like it when other wizards try and steal my teammates away."

"You make it sound like I'm a kid," deadpanned the teen as gave her a blank expression, "but you don't have to worry, red. She's not stealing me away. Just a job, nothing more, nothing less."

"Exactly," nodded Evergreen.

However, that hardly detered eithr woman from staring at each other with blatant scorn. Nero just rolled his eyes as he folded his arms, "If you guys are trying to kill each other with eye lasers, you're failing," quipped Nero. The mages who were watching the scene unfold looked on, dumbfounded and surprised.

"Is…Erza really fighting Evergreen over Nero?" Jet asked.

"Sure seems that way," Macao answered from the other table, "Damn, lucky guy."

"Man," Wakaba commented, "he's only been in the Guild for a few weeks and he's already gotten more girls than you ever have, Macao."

"Watch it, pal!" Macao replied angrily.

"Besides, I'm more impartial about what Nero said about Laxus!" interrupted Jet.

"No kidding," nodded Macao, "Guy's got guts."

A moment passed before Nero rolled his eyes and pushed the glaring Erza and Evergreen away from each other, "As fun as it is watching you two fight over me, save it for my birthday."

"Whatever," snorted Evergreen, backing down finally, "I need to get ready for my team's mission anyway."

She then turned to Nero, smiling shyly, "Maybe next time, cutie."

"I'll pack my toothbrush for it," he replied dryly.

Without another word, Erza grabbed Nero by the hem of his black muscle shirt and dragged him off; her expression darkened slightly after Evergreen's comment to Nero.

"Easy, there!" snapped Nero as he caught up and wrestled his shirt out of her grasp and followed the redhead, "I've only got the one shirt!"

Those observing the scene watched as Erza lead Nero away, leaving a steamed Evergreen behind.

"Guess we know who the winner is," Macao noted.

"Yep; round one goes to Nero by upset," Wakaba joked.

While this was going on, Nero and Erza arrived in the courtyard, where the hunter stopped the latter by getting in front of her and giving a serious look, "Okay, what the hell was that?" demanded Nero.

"Very well," she sighed, "You and I are going on a job. As you said we were."

"I was saying that to get Green to back off," exasperated Nero.

"But we are going on a quest," repeated Erza.

"Since when?" he demanded folding his arms.

"Since a minute ago," answered the mage, "I wasn't going to allow her to steal you away from our team. I was planning on telling her you weren't available as you and I were going on a quest, but you beat me to it."

"So you were going to lie like I was?" deadpanned Nero.

Erza smirked, "I wasn't lying about that, Nero. You will be going on a mission with me."

"Really?" stated the hunter, cocking an eyebrow, "what kind of mission is it?"

"It's S-Class," she answered, smiling slyly.

"Hate to burst your bubble, but you need to be an S-Class to go on one," pointed out the demon-human, "Last I checked, I'm not one."

"You don't have to be, not as long as you are with an S-Class wizard," Erza replied.

"Hmm," hummed Nero. A part of him was confused why Erza of all people would suddenly and inexplicably want to do this. Not to mention an S-Class mission of all things. However, he was curious to see what an S-Class was like.

"What kind of job are we talking?" asked Nero.

"Reave's Point, a town towards the west of Magnolia," answered Erza as her expression turned serious and she handed the hunter a job flier who took it and flipped it over, "The town has been attacked by some sort of electric monster for about a month. Lightning storms have raged since its first appearance and have not let up since then. There are reports of demons also attacking and injuring civilians. Dozens of people have been seriously hurt and it appears the attacks are getting more frequent and more aggressive. If something isn't done soon, it is only a matter of time before innocent people are killed. The job is to go in and destroy these creatures before they bring any more harm to the people of that town."

"I'm not foolish enough to believe I can vanquish a potential brood of electric demons and an unknown monster, not to mention with the likelihood these demons are from your world and are immune to magic. I can't bring the others with me since they are not ready for a job like this and the likelihood these are demons from the demon world, you are the best candidate to help me. I could really use your assistance on this mission, Nero," concluded Erza.

The hunter read the flier as she spoke and from what he's heard from her, it seemed that he was the best option. In all honesty, lightning demons were known to be extremely aggressive, case-in-point: Blitzs, so it was understandable for the request for help. Also, the reward looked pretty good.

"Alright, you got me," said Nero, handing the flier back, "I'll help yah."

"Thank you, Nero," Erza smiled in appreciation, "You'll also get a hefty reward when we complete this job."

"Oh yeah," nodded Nero. He had seen what was offered and it looked pretty good.

In the event he and Erza pulled this off, they'd get a generous payment of fifteen-million jewels. Split between both of them, it was still 7.5 million. He'd have plenty left over and be able to buy a place to live.

"That's a lot of money," smirked Nero.

"Yes, it's a very big reward," chuckled Erza, "Even after we split it, you'll have more than enough money to get out of Gray's house and acquire your own."

"That's the plan," agreed the hunter, "So, when do we hit the road?"

"We leave first thing tomorrow morning. Meet me here and then head out," She replied.

"I'll see you there," Nero gave her a two fingered salute and a smirk.

However the demon hunter and armor-shifting mage were interrupted when Lucy suddenly appeared, "Hey Guys," spoke the blonde girl, causing both of them to face her. With Lucy was Natsu, Gray, and Happy. The Dragon Slayer and ice-make wizard were in each other's face, already insulting one another. Lucy stood in front of them, acting oblivious to what was happening behind her.

"Again?" guessed Nero.

Lucy sighed, annoyed. "Yes."

"Natsu, Gray," Erza spoke in her commanding tone, "that's enough."

Instantaneously, the duo smiled and swung an arm around one another's shoulders as if they were good buddies, "Yes ma'am!" they both shouted.

Nero chuckled as he made a whipping motion.

"Anyways, I picked us out a job. It's defeating some bandits who've overrun Fort Term. We can leave in the morning," Lucy said.

"I'm sorry, Lucy, but I'm afraid Nero and I can't tag along," Erza responded, "We're both going on a job of our own tomorrow."

This immediately caught Lucy, Happy, Gray, and Natsu's attention; the latter two even stopped quarreling with each other to focus their attention on Nero and Erza.

"You two are going on a job already? What kind?" Natsu asked eagerly.

"Heading out to take on some lightning demons and possibly devil from the demon world that has been attacking a town west of here," answered Nero giving them the cliff notes version.

The four's jaws dropped in shock and disbelief. First, Erza challenged Nero to a fight, then he won, and now she was taking him on an S-Class job?!

"NO WAY!" Natsu, Gray, and Happy yelled simultaneously; shocked expressions plastered on their faces.

"You're taking Nero on an S-Class quest?!" Natsu shouted angrily, "To take down lightning demons?! AW MAN! I WANNA GO!"

"Guys already got a job," pointed out Nero with a smile, "Means you're professionally obligated to finish before starting another. Besides, bandits aren't going to turn themselves in."

"Nero is right; besides, you two are not ready for a mission like this; perhaps some other time," Erza added.

Natsu and Gray's shoulders slumped while their heads lowered in defeat, "Aww," they moaned.

Lucy, however, didn't seem affected at all; in fact, if anything, she looked relieved that she didn't have to go fight volcano monsters, "That's fine. You two have fun with that." She said cheerfully.

Lucy quickly grabbed Natsu and Gray by their shirts and dragged them away before the two dunderheads could convince Erza to let them tag along. She would rather take her chances with bandits than lightning demons or devil any day.

"Aw, but fighting lighting demons and a devil sounds a lot more fun than boring ole bandits," Natsu complained.

Lucy turned to him, and retorted, "You have a weird definition of fun."

"We'll see you all tomorrow before we head out," Erza then looked at her partner, "Nero, I would suggest you get your things packed tonight."

"Right," sighed Nero as he scratched the back of his head, "Only good clothes I've are the ones on my back, a pair of pajamas and a toothbrush. Screwed up my others clothes by mistake when I was washing them this morning."

"Oh," the redhead said, "well, we'll go out shopping for your things when we get paid. In the meantime," she suddenly grabbed his wrist and began dragging him off, "you can help me pack _my_ things."

"Wait what?" demanded Nero as he adopted a look worry. It was no secret to him that Erza brought an insane amount of things with her on a mission or quest. Helping her pack it all was scarier then any demon.

Even he wouldn't wish that fate on a demon.

Well...

Maybe one.

 _ **To Be Continued...**_


	16. Chapter 16 Rolling Thunder Part 1

_**And here we are, the first part of the job Nero and Erza will be taking together. However, I would like to make the announcement and state that the rating for this story might change and become rated M. This would be due to some more explicit themes and a possible lemon later on with Evergreen as a one night stand. I might also do Volcana as she might be reappearing later on before settling with Erza as she and Nero are the main pairing.**_

 _ **But the rating could stay the same, but it might change. It really depends on what you all want.**_

 _ **Also, I'm going to make a small reference to my other story; Avengers May Cry. I'll leave it up to you to figure out what that is, but it will become a recurring object. Some people might call me lazy, but I disagree as I want there to be some small references to Nero's world so I figured this would be appropriate. Also, because what I have in mind, I really like and think it's cool.**_

 _ **Sorry, it took so long to update this story. I got sidetracked if you've been reading Godly Demon and just put this to the side for far too long. I'm sorry. I'll try to update this story more often, you guys don't deserve to be kept waiting for as long as I left you all.**_

 _ **Okay, answering some reviews from readers.**_

 _ **Freddytones: thanks for the love, I'm really glad you like the story. There will be some romance later on between Nero and Erza, but not for a while.**_

 _ **Helios: Don't worry, Dante will show up later on. Most likely after the Battle of Fairy Tail Arc.**_

 _ **xNightShroudx: Thanks for the reminder, I'll make sure to incorporate that little detail in later chapters.**_

 _ **Anyway, moving on to the story.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing. Capcom owns Devil May Cry and Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail.**_

* * *

 _ **Devil Tail**_

 _ **Chapter 16: Rolling Thunder Part 1**_

 _ **Magnolia, Fiore Kingdom**_

Early the next day, things were pretty quiet. The sun was climbing into the sky while some clouds dotted the blue expanse, floating freely as the winds carried them to places not seen by man or beast. It was looking to be a cool morning, not chilly, but the air had a somewhat chilled feel to it, but it wouldn't be long until the afternoon heat set in. But, just outside the town of Magnolia, it was nice to be outside for a change.

One person enjoying the coolness was Nero Sparda, Son of the Darkslayer, nephew of Dante the Devil Hunter, and Grandson to the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda. The Demon Hunter was currently striding down one of the streets in Magnolia with the intention of meeting up with one wizard in particular at the Guild Hall. He wore his coat and had his sword strapped across his back, gun in its holster, and a glove covering his right arm with the sleeve rolled down.

While he might have revealed to Fairy Tail that he was one-quarter demon, the town still didn't know and to avoid causing any panic, the hunter decided it was simpler to wear a glove and just take it off in the guild where everyone knew about it.

Clothing aside, the demon hunter was heading to Fairy Tail Guild Hall, that was still under construction thanks to the attack from Phantom Lord several weeks prior. However, during his walk, Nero began to reflect on what happened yesterday, specifically after he beat Erza, the events that followed afterward and the one behind it: Ms. Evergreen. He'd admit, he found it weird that someone like Evergreen would just randomly ask him to accompany her and the Thunder Legion on a quest. It was also not lost on him that she was flirting with him, at least, until he made that comment about Laxus. The hunter snorted at the thought of Laxus; in some ways, he was like him, or at least when the hunter was younger and more of an asshole. But there was still a lot of be uncovered about him and the Thunder Legion. Which is why, after he went on a quest with Erza, he'd help them.

Speaking of the quest he was going on, during his conversation with Evergreen, he spotted the scarlet-haired wizard in his peripheral vision with what appeared to be a quest in her hand. Thinking quick, he essentially volunteered himself to head out on a quest Erza. It was no secret that Erza could be defensive about her team, but the expressions shared between Evergreen and her spoke of a little more, less than friendly relationship.

After finding out that Erza was really planning on asking him to join her on a quest, she explained what it was. Apparently, a town was under siege by lightning demons and the attacks were just getting worse and worse. Not one to pass up a chance to send some demons back to hell, Nero agreed to help her. But, almost immediately after, the platinum blonde was dragged off by the mage to help her pack for the trip. Safe to say, Nero would never make fun of how much stuff Dante takes with him during jobs.

"Holy fuck she has a lot of stuff," muttered the hunter to himself as he shivered a bit, "Girl can change armors on the dime and I'm willing to bet that extends to normal clothes. So why the fuck does she take literally everything she owns with her?"

 _'Let's not forget her little secret,'_ giggled Volcana within his mind. The hunter sighed as he scratched his nose while he felt his cheeks heat up.

About halfway through packing her things, Nero accidentally found a black leather book. Against his better judgment and the way he was raised, he decided to find out what was in the book, be it a diary or novel. Turns out it was neither.

The hunter shivered again as he groaned in discomfort, "Can't unread that," he muttered. Nero was by far from innocent, and to his hidden shame, he's delved into a similar area during his younger years. Barely into the book he found, the hunter came to the surprising discovery that the book was actually a smut novel.

When he found it and flipped through a few pages, Nero's reaction was to be expected: eyes widening, face turning red, a little dribble of blood fell from his nose which was hastily wiped away. Mercifully, he had put the book away just before Erza could notice him with it and safe to say he picked up the pace when it came to packing; wanting to bury that book and avoid finding anything else embarrassing. Sure enough, he decided to save as much time as possible and used his Quicksilver to speed up the process so that packing was done in an instant.

Showing her gratitude for the help, Erza thanked Nero by slamming his head in her breastplate, causing the hunter to blush and scratch his nose awkwardly. In his head, Volcana was giggling at his embarrassment but also at the mage's dirty secret. Thoughts aside, Nero couldn't help but feel a shiver travel up his spine, not from being cold but rather not wanting to incur Erza's wrath if she caught him with that book. There's a good chance she'd try to kill him.

Still, it surprised him that Erza, the Fairy Queen, was into that kind of thing. Something he was seriously not expecting.

 _'Though... if you think about it... It does explain a few things...,'_ input Volcana in a tone that was almost innocent, _'And it's quite kinky as well. Especially explains why she has her Seduction Arm-'_

"Stop," stated Nero harshly. He didn't need those thoughts in his head.

Volcana complied as she went silent, not before he swore he heard some giggling from the demoness. Taking a few deep breaths, Nero calmed himself and returned back to the present. Despite finding out her dirty secret, Nero promised never to bring it up. He also made sure that Volcana would never say anything that implied such. He can be a jerk at times, but he would never stoop as low as exposing another person's secret. Not unless it was dangerous.

A few minutes later, Nero made it to the Guild Hall, more specifically the bar area. A few wizards were gathered around the Request Board, searching for specific job requests that caught their interest. He looked around, looking for Erza but found no sign of her.

"Weird," muttered Nero to himself, "Figured she'd be here by now."

Shaking it off, summing it up that Erza must just be late, he turned towards the bar. There, he spotted Lucy and Mirajane chatting with each other. The Demon Hunter thought he'd wait for his partner there. Heading over to them, he seated himself down next to Lucy, leaning Red Queen against the counter.

"Morning girls," greeted Nero smoothly.

"Morning, Nero," greeted both girls simultaneously.

"Hey, Nero," spoke up Lucy, noticing something, "Shouldn't you be heading out with Erza on your job?"

Without even needing to ask, Mira gave Nero a strawberry sundae. Something he introduced to them a little while ago and since then, has made it his usual. Glancing at Mira, he gave her smirk, "Thanks, Mira," said the hunter before turning to Lucy, "To answer your question, Erza said to meet her here. Figured we'd stop here first to get some sundae's before hitting the road."

"I still can't believe how hard she fell in love with that sundae of yours," commented Lucy, shaking her head.

* * *

 _*Flashback*_

 _Nero was standing behind the bar working on something while several mages, his team at the front, stood on the other side. On the bar was several ingredients: ranging from strawberry's, whipped cream, milk, cream, and a tub of ice. He asked Mira beforehand for the mentioned objects, saying he was getting a bit tired of not having it._

 _"So what's this you're making, Nero?" asked Lucy, noticing the hunter making something._

 _"Just a little something from home," was all the hunter said as he glanced up at her briefly before returning to work. After a few moments, he got to work using the other ingredients, crushing a few strawberries into the ice cream mix to give it flavor while he kept a few left over._

 _A few minutes later, Nero finished what he was making and presented it to everyone. It looked like a sundae, with red ice cream, strawberry syrup, and some whipped cream on top._

 _"This is a strawberry sundae," informed Nero, knowing that some of them had some questions._

 _"Didn't you say that your uncle eats a bunch of these pretty often?" supplied Gray, recalling a story Nero told them about Dante._

 _"Yeah," nodded Nero as he folded his arms, "Guy ate these pretty often and if I'm honest, I can't blame him. They're pretty good."_

 _He pushed the sundae towards Erza who was standing at the forefront of the gather wizards._

 _"Go on," gestured Nero._

 _"Me?" blinked the redhead in surprise, "I don't know, Nero. Perhaps-"_

 _"It's a strawberry sundae, Erza," interrupted the hunter smirking, "Strawberry ice cream, with strawberry syrup, topped with sliced strawberries and whipped cream. If you turn down that, you're not Erza."_

 _He smirked, having figured out that the might Erza had a particular weakness for Strawberries. And sure enough, the instant she heard 'strawberry',_ _all vigilance immediately left her as she took the glass and spoon Nero supplied, taking a large spoonful. The second the red and white icy substance made contact with the mage's taste buds, Erza set the spoon down while everyone leaned in, curious to find out her reaction. Sure enough and surprisingly, the reaction came out as a very random and uncharacteristic girlish squeal, her eyes filled with hearts._

 _"IT'S SO GOOD!" She exclaimed gleefully, earning shocked expressions from everyone, minus Nero as he folded his arms and smirked triumphantly._

 _"What'd I say?" snorted Nero triumphantly._

 _"Whoa," Gray breathed, wide-eyed, "I've never seen Erza so…so…"_

 _"Cheery?" Lucy asked._

 _"Yeah," Gray confirmed, "that."_

 _Erza happily feasted on the sundae, though, she did it rather quickly, lost in the incredible and sweet taste of the ice cream treat. Which caused Nero to frown._

 _"You might wanna take it easy there, Erza," warned Nero as he gave her a warning look, "Eat it to fast and you'll get a-"_

 _"CURSES! My head! It feels like it's going to explode!" groaned the redhead as she fell to her knees, releasing the empty sundae bowl and spoon to hold her head in pain._

 _"There it is," noted Nero as he leaned across the bar to look down, "Eat it to fast and you'll get a brain freeze."_

 _"WHAT?!" the other wizards cried out._

 _"You mean her brain is actually frozen?!" Happy shouted; his face paling in horror._

 _"No," sighed Nero as he leaned back to fold his arms once more, "It's a headache you get when you eat or drink something cold too fast."_

 _"Oh," they replied simultaneously._

 _*Flashback End*_

* * *

Sure enough, Erza had fallen head over heels for the cold treat when Nero introduced it to the Guild. However, that didn't mean he wasn't protective of it.

"You really think it was so hard?" asked Nero as he stared at the blonde, narrowing his eyes slightly, "You insulting the sundae?"

Lucy squealed and waved her hands in a placating motion, "No, NO, NO! Of course not! I would never mock the sundae!" She yelled desperately.

It was no secret that Nero took his sundae's very seriously. She didn't want to be on the business end of Devil Bringer or forbid, Yamato.

However, she was taken by surprise when Nero startled chuckling, "I'm only messing, Lucy. Just a joke. But your reaction was pretty funny," stated the hunter as he was still chuckling.

"NOT FUNNY, NERO!" shouted Lucy as she narrowed her eyes at Nero while a vein throbbed on her forehead.

"It's pretty funny," defended the silver-blonde.

 _'It's objectively funny,'_ agreed Volcana within his mind.

As this was happening, Mira was giggling at the scene before her, "I think it's cute that Erza loves Nero's sundaes so much," a sly smirk formed as she shot Nero a playful look, "Keep it up, Nero, I think you might have Erza falling for you before you know it."

Nero's eyes went wide as he almost choked on his sundae, coughing up some of the contents. He took a second to catch his breath before looking at the girl, "What?"

Lucy tapped her chin in thought. Her face then brightened in realization as she turned to Mirajane with a sly smile, "Now that you mention it, Mira; Erza and Nero would make a great couple. Don't ya think?"

"I'm sorry, what?" demanded Nero as he looked at them in surprise.

 _'I wish I had a camera,'_ snickered Volcana, causing Nero to mentally frown at her.

"OH YES! Yes, they would be perfect for each other!" Mira squealed happily, "And with them going on that Reave's Point job, they'll have plenty of opportunities to be together."

"Alright, you guys are digging way too deep into this," stated Nero with a level tone, but internally, he was surprised by what he was hearing, "It's just a job, taking out demons. Not a romantic getaway where I can make a move on Erza."

Luy and Mira just giggled, which caused Nero to narrow his eyes cautiously, "What are you laughing at?"

"Do you know why Erza wanted you to go on that job with her?" asked Lucy, still giggling at his apparent cluelessness.

"She needed help taking out demons which we've established are resistant to magic, not to mention, I sort of used her as a scapegoat to get out of a job with Evergreen," answered the hunter.

"Yes, that's part of the reason." Mira explained, "But the main reason is that she wants to get a better understanding of you."

"And you know this, how?" deadpanned Nero.

"Woman's intuition," Mira winked.

 _'She's right you know,'_ added Volcana, _'You're the mysterious demon hunter from another world. Despite knowing about your general past, they don't know what you can still do.'_

Nero looked up for a moment before letting out a sigh and shutting his eyes, "Alright, I guess that makes sense. If we're gonna be working together, best to know what your partner can do. Besides, it'll give me more of a chance to figure out what Erza can do." The hunter then moved to finish his sundae.

Mira nodded, and smiled teasingly, "I bet she also wants to see if you're her type."

The Son of the Darkslayer spat out another bit of sundae in a random direction, and went on another coughing fit, "You fucking bitch," swore Nero while the white-haired and blond-haired girls broke out into laughter at Nero's predicament and annoyed expression plastered on his face.

"Priceless, Mira! Priceless!" Lucy commended as she laughed.

Nero rolled his eyes as he quickly got over his surprise and composed, "Alright, laugh it up," he muttered, before changing the topic, "You seen Natsu, Happy, or Gray? Last I check, you guys are heading out on a job."

"We're here," announced Gray in a casual tone, causing Nero to glance behind Lucy and raise an eyebrow to see Natsu and Gray standing right behind her with Happy flying just above them.

The Celestial Mage almost instantly cried out in surprise, mainly from their sudden appearance. Her sudden freak out caused Natsu some confusion, "Something wrong, Lucy?" he asked.

"WHY'D YOU SNEAK UP BEHIND ME?! YAH TRYING TO SCARE ME TO DEATH?!" she shouted angrily at them.

However, from out of nowhere and before anyone could say a thing, a large barrel went sailing through the air and collided with Natsu's head, causing Nero frown. The Dragon Slayer collapsed to the floor groaning, a red bump on his head. The pink haired wizard seemed to be a magnet for pain, whether it was from Nero, Erza, or flying kegs.

"Saw that one coming," muttered Nero as he looked down at the mage. It was then, out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a familiar redhead approaching the group, "Was wondering when you'd show up."

"Good morning, Nero," greeted Erza, causing the whole group to turn and face the mage in question, "Are you prepared for our quest?"

"Should be asking yourself that considering how much you're bringing with you," he quipped as he stood up from the bar and finished his sundae, "Thanks for the snack, Mira."

"No problem, Nero," nodded the white-haired barmaid.

After returning the nod, the hunter turned to face the Re-Quip Wizard and hooked his thumbs into his belt.

"So, we heading out, or what?"

* * *

About ten minutes later, Nero and Erza were now walking down the streets of Magnolia away from the Guild Hall. A few townsfolk they passed would sometimes stop and glance at the hunter, sending curious looks as Nero had never been in town for extended periods. However, he and Erza simply ignored them and continued on their way.

They had said goodbye to their other teammates and wished them good luck at Fort Term. The highly-adaptive duo was confident that Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy would be able to handle the job; after all, it was only a group of not-so-dangerous bandits.

So, the Demon Hunter and the armor-shifting mage were making their way on their own mission. Erza walked beside Nero with a strawberry sundae in a disposable cup in her hand. True to herself, she got all strawberry and was using a spoon to have her icy treat. Meanwhile, Nero was on her right, pulling the wagon that was completely crammed with suitcases.

He wasn't struggling in the slightest, but he still wondered why she needed all this stuff. It's not like they were moving to another country.

"Why do I have to pull the cart?" asked Nero glancing at the redhead, "Seen you do it plenty of times with breaking a sweat."

Erza slowly scooped up another piece of her sundae and ate, relishing the sweet taste. After swallowing the scoop, she answered him without glancing back, "It's your punishment for using me as an escape from Evergreen."

"Weren't you going to ask me anyway?" deadpanned Nero, "Besides, it's not like she's stealing me from the team. One job and that's it. Besides, it'll give me a chance to see if Laxus is all he says he is, or if he's just an asshole."

"Even so," stated Erza after eating and scoop, she looked back at the silver-haired hunter, "I wouldn't insult him so lightly. Laxus is one of the strongest wizards in Fairy Tail. Any threat that he makes he is certainly capable of backing up."

"Have yet to see him do any of that," scoffed Nero, "besides, if the guy's as arrogant as I believe he is, it'll make it all the more fun for me. It's part of the reason why my uncle is so successful. He regularly insults demons and devils, gets them angry which leads them to make mistakes. If I do end up fighting him, I'd wager his pride will blind him."

Erza paused from her frozen treat and turned to Nero, studying his features keenly. It appeared that he has had his own experiences with insulting.

"Also, why the hell are you hassling me over slandering Laxus?" demanded Nero, as he cocked an eyebrow, "If the guy is as big of a jerk as I can gather, he's more than likely gone after some of the others at some point. And knowing you, you won't allow that and just attack him."

Erza turned away and slightly pouted her lower lip. She realized that Nero did have a point there; if Laxus did do as Nero said he would, then she surely would've challenged him. All the times she's heard Laxus talk so poorly of her "family" enraged her to no end.

"Point taken; you're far more perceptive than I believed. It's true, I would've challenged Laxus if he degraded anyone in the guild," Erza admitted truthfully.

"Then you can bet I won't stand for it either," stated Nero, "I bash my friends to keep them humble, not to be an asshole."

Later, the two arrived at Magnolia Station to catch a train, however, when Erza was getting their tickets, Nero noticed that their destination didn't match up with the name of the town where the job was supposed to be.

"Any reason why we're not going directly to the town?" asked the hunter as the Mage gave him his ticket and the two started to the platform where they would catch their train.

"I'm afraid that due to the storms surrounding Reave's Point, the train system has stopped all trains going in and out of the town," informed Erza shaking her head, "I'm afraid that the only way to reach the town is by car or walking."

"Great," sighed the hunter before he shook his head, "What's our time of arrival looking like?"

"Without any interruptions, we should reach Riverdale at around lunch where we'll get a magic mobile and arrive at Reave's Point later this evening," informed Erza, "Now I suggest we get to the platform, our train should arrive in a few minutes."

"Got it," nodded Nero and the two arrived at the platform where he and Erza waited just a few minutes before the train arrived.

To save time, the hunter decided to use Quicksilver and load all of Erza's luggage onto the train. As the time effect finished, the hunter dusted his hands off, saying it was no trouble and they were on a schedule. To say thanks, Erza gently slammed his head into her chest plate to show her appreciation. This had the result of causing Nero to blush and scratch his nose in a flustered manner. The wooden cart was also loaded onto the train by the station so they wouldn't have to carry everything when they reached their stop.

With everything all in order, the two boarded the train and took their place in a cabin where for the first part of their journey they'd spend their time. Inside the cabin, Nero and Erza sat across from each other, the hunter having unsheathed Red Queen to rest the massive blade against the seat with the tip digging into the floor slightly.

"Nero, I've been meaning to ask, where did you get Red Queen?" asked Erza, looking at the sword in curiosity. The hunter glanced at the mage for a second before looking back at the weapon. The mighty sword rattled against the wooden seat as the train started to pick up speed as it pulled out of the station.

"It was given to me by the Order when I used to work with the Order," explained Nero, "Due to my above average strength as most members were just normal humans and in my world, people don't have magical abilities or are incredibly strong like people here. So, the Orders' chief alchemist, Agnus, made Red Queen for me."

"I see," nodded the redhead mage, "I assume that due to the nature of your work, it is also far stronger than the average sword?"

"You'd be right," confirmed the demon hunter as he glanced at Red Queen, "in terms of durability, it's about as strong as a Devil Arm."

"Very impressive," complimented Erza.

"Yeah," chuckled Nero, as he gave the weapon and affectionate pat, "She is."

* * *

A few hours later, the train finally arrived at Riverdale. It wasn't anything special, just a small town where most people got off the train for a little break.

Exiting the train station and heading to the magic-mobile rental shop, Nero and Erza arrived at a small, white building, only about one level that stood alone from all the other shops in the town. Behind the building, in the back lot there dozens of magic mobiles, ranging in designs, colors, and models. When the two reached the store, Nero gave Erza an incredulous look.

"We're taking one of these?" asked Nero, glancing at the mage.

"As I said the other day, the railway was closed due to the storm," reminded Erza, "I'm afraid this is the only way into Reave's Point."

"Right," nodded the hunter before glancing back at the vehicles, "just thought we'd be driving something a little more... I don't know, flashy."

"The vehicles in your world are different, I assume," inquired the Armor Shifting Mage, tilting her head at Nero.

"You could say that," answered Nero.

Later, after Erza had paid the shopkeeper to rent a magic-mobile, she and Nero were now in the back lot searching for one that fit their requirements. It didn't take them long before they found one that would actually hold all her luggage.

It was interesting, at least to Nero. It looked like a 30s van, or at least, it had the body shape of a van, with the change of wooden wheels. Its paint job was white, with a red stripe along the side, and dark blue. The front had a steering wheel and a large bench and missing the driver's seat belt.

Since they were in a rush, Nero saved time by slowing down time. Using Quicksilver, he slowed down time enough to pack all of Erza's bags into the van's cabin. When he finished and changed back, Erza gently slammed his head into her chest-plate to show her appreciation, causing Nero to chuckle awkwardly and scratch his nose slightly. One problem, however, was that with cabin completely full, they couldn't bring Erza's cart with them. The rental shop owner said that he'd look after it until she and Nero returned.

As Erza took her seat behind the steering wheel Nero sat by her with only a foot of room between them. Erza removed the armored gauntlet on her left arm and then proceeded to place the magic-mobile's coupling on her wrist. As she did this, Nero was studying all the parts of the vehicle with interest.

"I have no idea how this works," stated Nero, "I can only assume this thing doesn't run off gas. Not like there are any stations nearby."

Erza turned to him and cocked an eyebrow, _"Gasoline_?"

"Right, everything here runs on magic," remembered Nero, mentally slapping himself, "Gasoline is basically a fuel source. Its a refined chemical found in the earth which is used to fuel vehicles and other things."

"Interesting," hummed Erza with curiosity, "I'm afraid we don't have anything like that here. Everything in Earthland, such as appliances, housing, and vehicles are all powered by magic."

"Kinda figured as much," commented the demon hunter, before his attention fell onto the device on Erza's left wrist. Noting the cable that was connected to a wire that ran to the undercarriage of the van, "So I take it that's how you power this?"

"Yes," nodded Erza as she took the clamp off and handed it to Nero to inspect, "This is the S.E. Plug. It draws the magical energy from within a person's body and uses it to power the engine."

"Wouldn't that drain your magic or something?" guessed the hunter, glancing between the mage and the device.

"Yes, it can if used excessively," nodded Erza, though adding that last bit. The Re-Quip Mage recalled when she put too much power into the Magic Mobile during the Lullaby incident and was nearly put out of commission when they went to deal with the Dark Guild, Eisenwald.

Nero glanced at the gauntlet, an intrigued expression on his face, "So what, you just put it on your wrist?" asked the demon hunter as he tried clamping the S.E. plug onto his left wrist. He didn't know what he was expecting, however, he was surprised when the vehicle rumbled to life.

Both Erza and Nero looked at each other in surprise, the Demon Hunter letting out a snort of amusement, "Guess Demonic energy works as well as magic," he commented while looking at his wrist.

"It would appear so," agreed Erza, "However, I believe I should power the vehicle."

"Yeah, yeah," he replied, taking the coupling off and handed it to Erza; however, just before the mage could take the object, the plug suddenly shot towards Nero's right arm, clamping down on Devil Bringer's wrist.

The magic mobile roared to life before surging forward like a freight train. A large cloud of dust was left in its wake as it sped down the streets of the town, blowing right by several townsfolk who only saw a blur of red, blue, and white followed by a cloud of dust. In less than five seconds, the turbo-charged magic-mobile had already exited the town and was now driving on an empty dirt road. A trail of dust was being thrown up in the car's wake as it drove at a breakneck speed.

Both Demon Hunter and Mage were crushed back into their seats by the rushing wind and the sudden force of the car taking off. Everything around them was a blur, or at least, it was to Erza. Despite the magic mobile missing a speedometer, he could guess they were going around two and fifty miles an hour.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!" shouted Nero over the rushing wind.

Erza fought against the strong wind and turned her gaze to the coupling, which was affixed to Devil Bringer, "Your... arm; it must be powering the vehicle!" shouted Erza.

"No shit!" replied Nero.

"Nero!" shouted Erza as she tried to reach the coupling, "at this speed, the magic-mobile will eventually fall apart! We have to disconnect the hookup from your arm, now!"

"I got it!" Nero grabbed the coupling and tried pulling it off, however, he found it wouldn't come off. He tried pulling again but found it wouldn't budge. He didn't want to pull too hard, otherwise, he might break it, then they would have a problem.

"It's not coming off!"

Erza's eyes had widened in shock, _'This is not good at all,'_ She thought.

The scarlet-haired beauty swallowed her panic, grasped the coupling, and lent her assistance to Nero. Both knights pulled against the coupling, but it still stuck. Erza grounded her teeth together and put more strength into her arms. When she did that, the hookup actually began to move a little.

Nero and Erza saw that they were making progress and pulled harder on the plug. Finally, the demon hunter had enough, "Fuck it!" swore the former Knight as he yanked it right off his arm.

The coupling came right off Devil Bringer, but, the second it came off, the van-like vehicle began to rapidly slow down until it came to a sudden halt. Thanks in part to the Law of Inertia, Nero and Erza were thrown out of their seats and into the air.

Acting on instinct, Nero reached out and pulled Erza into a tight embrace while in midair. After wrapping his arms around her, Nero oriented himself so that his feet hit the ground first, digging into the ground for several yards before his heels hit a ledge and knocked him off balance. Both he and Erza tumbled through the air, entering a small gorge where Nero smashed his head into a stone wall before both he and Erza hit the ground.

The two lay in on the ground, Erza was on top of Nero; who at the moment was unconscious from taking the hard collision with the wall, even he can get knocked out with a blow hard enough to the head. Erza groaned lightly, feeling a bit of pain wash over her. Titania felt a bit woozy, despite that Nero had shielded her from the initial impact.

However, at the moment, Erza felt a moist sensation on her lips. When her brown eyes fluttered open, they instantaneously widened in shock.

Erza was lying on top of a knocked out Nero with her lips touching his!

She immediately separated her lips from his and crawled away, putting a few meters of distance between them. Erza's face turned several shades of red as she sat on her knees with her arms folded over her armor chest. The redhead couldn't believe what had just happened. She'd actually kissed him, even though it was unintentional and purely by accident.

The Fairy Queen felt her heart-rate increase rapidly while she began to inwardly freak out over the incident. Subconsciously, Erza subtly touched her lips; her expression shifting into deep thought.

Erza had to admit, the feeling she experienced when their lips were together felt quite…enjoyable. She immediately shook her head from that thought, _'Pull yourself together, Scarlet! Do not think like that! It was only an accidental kiss…nothing more,'_ Erza berated herself; nevertheless, her heart still continued to beat quickly.

"Gah, fuck... ow," swore Nero as he came around, holding the back of his head with his left hand, grimacing as he shook himself slightly, "That hurt."

After shaking his head a bit more, and checking to see if he cut himself from the impact, Nero glanced at Erza, who was still staring off in a random direction with a slightly panicked expression on her face. The hunter cocked an eyebrow at the wizard.

"Hey, Erza," spoke up Nero, standing up and moving over to her. He knelt down beside the redhead and placed his right hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently, "You good?"

The redhead was snapped out of her musings and turned her gaze to Nero. Upon seeing him she looked away, the blush on her cheeks intensifying.

"Huh…oh…um –yes!" she stammered awkwardly, causing the white-haired hunter to arch his eyebrow even further, "Yes, I'm fine."

"Right...," replied Nero, unconvinced, "Any particular reason you're blushing?"

"I am not blushing," Erza snorted while she closed her eyes and folded her arms over her chest-plate.

"And Natsu's Gray's best friend," countered the hunter as he stood up. He then held out his right hand for Erza, which she took. Nero pulled the mage to her feet, "Didn't see that coming. Thing just latched onto my wrist and, well, we know the rest."

"It's alright, Nero," replied Erza as she dusted her skirt off, "You didn't intend for that to happen."

An impish grin then spread across her face, "But for future note, I believe it would be best if _I_ were to fuel the vehicle."

"Probably," agreed Nero with a smirk, "Let's head back to mobile, make sure every thing's..."

The hunter trailed off as his gaze fell on something within the gorge. Erza took notice of this.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, but I think there's something here," replied Nero as he started heading deeper into the rock formation. Erza followed him, curious as to what he was heading towards. Traveling for about a minute, the two members of Fairy Tail found what Nero had spotted.

It appeared to be a magic mobile, but not like any Erza had seen. For starters, it was much sleeker in shape as compared to other magic mobiles, lower to the ground and much wider. It had four headlights in the front, a closed off section for the driver and passenger. Instead of wooden wheels, it appeared to have a sort of rubber coating. The back appeared to have a sort of fin that rose up a few inches, held up by two prongs.

"A magic mobile?" said Erza after a moment.

"That's not a magic mobile, Erza," corrected Nero, his tone slightly excited approaching the vehicle, a wide grin on his face, "It's a 1972 Plymouth Roadrunner, or at least what's left of one."

"You know what that is?"

"Yeah, this is a vehicle from my world," he confirmed, "Remember when I told you about gas? Well, this is one of the vehicles that ran off that."

"You seem very interested in this vehicle," noted the Re-Quip mage with a slightly bemused tone.

"That's because in my world, they don't make these anymore. They're out of production," explained the hunter.

"But how does a vehicle cross over into other worlds?" asked Erza.

"Probably the same way I did, through a portal," suggested Nero as he stepped back, "Over the years, tons of vehicles have vanished in strange areas like the Bermuda Triangle. Guess it just got sucked into one such portal and wound up here."

"Perhaps," agreed the redhead, however, her tone turned a bit more serious, "But we can't stay here any longer. We have a quest to complete."

"Right," remembered Nero as he stepped away from the vehicle, but gave it one last glance before following Erza out of the gorge.

Heading back to the magic-mobile, the hunter checked the entire vehicle for any damages. Working as a car mechanic part-time was paying off quite well in this situation. Sliding out from underneath the vehicle, Nero stood up.

"Suspensions good, brakes good, frames good, wheels might be a little worn, and the engine itself was put under a lot stress real fast," listed the hunter, "but all in all, it should run just fine."

"That's good to hear," nodded Erza, "The townspeople of Reave's Point need our help."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," smirked Nero.

They sat down on the front bench and made sure to buckle their safety belts. Erza clamped the hookup onto her left wrist, which started the vehicle. The two powerhouses resumed their drive down the dirt road, only this time they traveled at a normal speed.

A moment of silence passed by and, for Erza, it was awkward. With her free hand, she subtly touched her lips again. The memory of the little accident was still fresh on her mind and wouldn't leave. She still remembered the sensation she had experienced when her had lips touched Nero's, despite how short-lived it was.

 _'What is wrong with me? Why can't I just forget it?'_ Erza pondered, _'It was only an accident! So why am I thinking so much of it?'_

Nero, who was watching the landscape pass by, noticed from the corner of his eye that Erza was touching her lips. Turning to her, he saw the thoughtful expression plastered on her face.

"Something on your mind, Erza?" asked Nero suddenly.

"Uh…y-yes, I'm fine," she stammered, taken slightly by surprise when he spoke up, "No need to worry."

"When we were thrown into the air a while ago, you wrapped yourself around me and took the impact for me," the scarlet-haired warrior switched topics, mainly to keep herself from saying something stupid, "Though I am touched, why did you? You know that I am very durable and I could've handled it."

"Call it 'heat of the moment,'" shrugged Nero, scratching his nose slightly, something Erza picked up on, "I tend to prioritize the safety of others over my own. So I just did what I had to make sure you didn't get hurt."

"Thank you, Nero," Erza smiled, touched by his chivalry and concern for her well-being, "Though it was unnecessary, I still appreciate it."

Erza took his head and gently slammed it into her chest-plate. Nero pulled back with a red, flustered face. She seemed to be making a habit of this.

"Uh, right… no problem," He chuckled nervously, "We're friends; we look out for each other."

Another moment of silence went by, but this time it wasn't the awkward kind. As they drove down the path, Erza couldn't help herself but replay the sensation of her lips on Nero's again. She inwardly scolded herself, telling herself to just drop it; however, she just couldn't.

Her face turned a light shade of red from the memory, which Nero quickly noticed.

"Erza," spoke up Nero, "You're blushing again."

Erza closed her eyes while her grip tightened on the steering wheel, "I am not!" she stated firmly.

"Uh-hu," responded her partner completely unconvinced, "So your face is always nearly the same color as your hair?"

"I am not blushing," she reaffirmed stubbornly, "You're just seeing things."

"Right," snorted Nero, bemused by Erza's behavior, but also a little confused.

The two continued their journey to Reave's Point, driving a decent speed.

Erza made sure to monitor the amount of her magical energy she put into the magic-mobile. She didn't want to be drained by the time they got to Peony.

To pass the time, Nero and Erza discussed various things. However, the main topic that Nero brought up was Laxus and the Thunder Legion. While he did know a little about them through conversations with other members of the Guild, there was still not much he knew. So Erza told Nero more about Laxus and the members of the Thunder Legion, who happened to be Laxus's personal bodyguards.

"So Evergreen was acting all chummy to try and get me to join the Legion?" surmised the hunter.

Erza nodded, "Yes. It must've been her way of trying to convince you to join."

"Well, guess I gave her some satisfaction when I agreed to do one job with them," huffed Nero.

"I do wish to ask you about that," responded Erza, glancing at Nero carefully, "Why did you agree to join them for a quest later on?"

"At the time, it was mainly to get her to leave me alone," shrugged Nero, before a serious expression, "but also to see if what I've heard about Laxus is true. I want to know who I may be working with."

Erza narrowed her eyes carefully, something Nero took notice of.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Erza, I've got no plans of leaving any of you guys," chuckled Nero, "It's something I've been considering doing. Now that I'm working at a guild, I want to know how everyone works, and the only real way to do that, is if I give them a shot on jobs. Test the waters if you will."

The redhead's expression softened as she realized this was true. Ever since joining the guild, Nero has only worked with her, Natsu, Gracy, Lucy, and Happy; no one else. It made sense to want to know how others work and complete jobs in the future.

"Right, I am sorry," apologized Erza.

"You're not going to get rid of me that easy," chuckled Nero.

A few moments past between the Devil Hunter and Re-quip Mage. It was then Nero heard the rattle of a suitcase in the back of the van. The luggage actually brought one question to mind for Nero.

"Erza."

The scarlet-haired warrior turned to her green demon-armed companion, "Yes?"

"Any reason you brought all this stuff with you when you can just change armors and regular clothing in a snap?" asked Nero, wondering about the amount of luggage, "Seems a little pointless with your abilities."

Erza shrugged and smiled, "I just feel more relaxed bringing all my belongings with me."

"To each their own, I guess," shrugged Nero, "So what's your favorite thing to re-quip into? Like which armor or outfit do you like wearing the most?"

"Hmm…," Erza hummed as she tapped her chin in thought. After a moment, she slyly grinned, "I suppose my bunny suit would have to be my favorite."

"Wait, what?" blinked Nero, hearing the words 'bunny suit'. A part of him had an inkling as to what that might be, "Bunny suit? The heck is that?"

Erza turned to him and, surprisingly, gave Nero a coy smile, "I'll show you later," she winked.

Nero couldn't help but feel some blood rush to his face, the sensation of anticipation growing inside him. He was by no means a pervert, being raised better than that, but he was still a guy. A warm-blooded teenager at that.

"So, Nero Sparda," started Erza, "out of your weapons, which is your-"

The redheaded wizard was suddenly cut off when the two guild members heard the crack of thunder in the distance. Both of them looked up at the sky and sure enough, the clouds were a very dark gray. Brief flashes could be seen through the cloud cover, as well as distant streaks of lightning that crashed down.

"Looks like we're getting close," noted Nero, his expression turning grim.

"The quest description did say that a storm was plaguing the town, but I did not expect it to be so severe," stated Erza in mild surprise.

"I think we can thank the demon for that," stated the hunter.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, some demons can affect their surrounding environments slightly with just their presence," explained Nero, glancing between the storm and Erza, "Unusual weather and climate change can sometimes be the result of a demon coming to our world. Depending on how powerful a demon is, the changes can be minor to near-apocalyptic. A lightning storm in an area that doesn't normally have them is one such change."

Erza's eyes widened slightly at that.

Hearing that a demon can alter its surroundings by merely being present. It was a frightening thought and a testament to how serious this quest had become for them. The two warriors drove into the storm, flashes of lightning streaked across the sky while thunder boomed in the distance.

* * *

 ** _Reave's Point, Mountain_ _Ridge_**

To the north of the two was a small mountain range that overshadowed the entire area. It was a woodland area with some clearings dotting the side of the mountain. Normally, forest creatures could be seen scurrying through the trees and vegetation, but not now. Ever since the storm had come, the entire forest seemed almost deserted.

Or at least, by the native animals.

A massive figure stalked its way to the ridge, looking down on the village. A shadow obscured it from view, but the brief flashes of lightning illuminated the beast for just a second. It had the body shape of a wolf, except far larger than any wolf native to Earthland or Nero's world.

A low growl rumbled from the beast before it threw its head back and let out a massive howl. Lightning flashed as the creature let out its unearthly cry.

The howl was then returned by a powerful screech, coming from in the clouds. Green electric flashes danced within the clouds as a beast flew among them. It's entire body crackling with electricity. It let out a piercing shriek as lightning shot out to meet the creature.

 _ **To Be Continued...**_


	17. I'm sorry

Hello all, I have some bad news to bring to you all and this is entirely my fault. I am sorry to inform all of you, but I am no longer going to writing this story at all. I know, I am very sorry, it has just been such a long time since I've written anything for that story and I honestly can't say that I can find it in myself to continue it. It is probably for the best as well since my knowledge of Fairy Tail is very, very limited. That is not to say that Devil Tail cannot continue, however. While I may have lost my writer's motivation for this story, that does not mean I cannot turn the story over to someone else to pick up where I have left off.

It is for that reason I am putting Devil Tail up for adoption, but I want to stress something very important. While I am no longer going to be writing this story, I will be checking in on the person who does get the story and see if they are actually continuing the work I started. I tried this once before for my other story: Rider's Duty and Justice and it was a very promising story but I turned it over to the wrong person who just let it die. So, I want to stress that I don't want any weak-willed writers continuing this story and just give up after one chapter. I want someone who is serious about continuing this story. This story means a lot to me and I want to see it continued as I'm sure all you do as well.

So, if anyone wants to adopt the story and promises to keep the story going, I will allow them to take control of this story. But I want the person who does adopt the story to keep in mind; I _will_ be watching you to see if you are not keeping your promise.

I just want to thank everyone who has followed this story for all the support and reviews you have given me and I am sorry that I let you down, hopefully, the person who does adopt the story won't fail you as I have.

Again, thank you for your support and criticism, it means a lot to me and I hope I can continue my other stories. You can still read my story here, though it might not be continued anymore it is open to anyone to read.

However, should I get the feeling to restart this story, I will be sure to let all of you know that I will be taking back the story and continuing where I left off.


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